42 The Puppet Master
by ARtheBard
Summary: Finally the team knows their foe is at work. This time he made the mistake of taunting them before he even starts killing. Will it be a move he comes to regret? Or will he once again defeat the team, this time adding one of them to his death tally?
1. Chapter 1

"MAMA! MOMMY!"

Henry's excited yell washes over Emily and JJ like a warm breeze. Emily drops to her knees, engulfing him in a big hug.

"Hey, Champ. I've missed your hugs so much," she tells him. She stands with him in her arms so JJ can join in on the hug. "Mommy missed them, too."

"I sure did," JJ agrees.

Henry throws himself at his Mommy, giving her a big hug and kiss. He then turns to look at Emily. His little brow furrows as he stares at her. He slowly lifts a hand and strokes her cheek below her right eye.

"Boo bad again, Mama."

Emily smiles, amazed that he can register that it had swollen up again. "Yeah, it is. But I'll be okay, Champ. Batman is always okay."

Henry nods happily. "Mama Ba'man!"

JJ smiles and kisses his cheek. "Yes, she is. Driving skills and all," she adds, winking at her wife.

Emily looks down the hall to see Francesca standing there. "Hi, Francesca. Rocky is napping?"

"Si, cara. She is here in the playpen. How about I get you an icepack while you all go see her and play some with Henry?"

Emily smiles. "Sounds perfect."

JJ and Emily both give the nanny a kiss on the cheek as they head into the playroom. JJ kneels down with Henry, who wants to build blocks. Emily walks over to the playpen and stares down at the sleeping girl inside.

"_Sara Wilder left home because she felt no one understood her. Don't ever let me get that way with Rocky. Please, God, don't let me lose my son or daughter,_" she thinks to herself. She strokes a hand over the little girl's soft hair. "I love you, Rocky," she whispers.

Turning to her wife and son she sees her wife looking at her questioningly. Emily smiles, letting JJ know she's okay. She then tosses her blazer onto the window seat and drops down beside the pile of blocks. Francesca walks in and hands Emily an icepack before slipping back out of the room.

"Okay, Builder Henry, what are we making today?" Emily asks their son.

Henry smiles and three of them start to build a big city that they then crash his cars into destroying it. Once it is done…they do it all over again. All in all they play "Destroy the City" 4 times before Rocky starts to stir. JJ hops up to go get her.

"Hey, Rock Star."

Rocky gives an excited squeal that is reserved just for JJ. The blonde's heart melts at the excitement in her daughter's eyes as she lifts her up.

"You are getting so big! Yes, you are! I can't believe you are 7 months old already. Before we know it you'll be crawling after your brother. Then the fun really begins."

Emily chuckles. "Think Francesca will need an assistant?"

JJ laughs. "Something tells me she'll handle it better than us."

Emily grins and nods. "True." She reaches for her daughter. "Hi, Rocky. I've missed you just as much as I missed your big brother."

Rocky gives her "Mama" squeal", giving Emily the same thrill it had given JJ. Emily sits her in her lap and together they help Henry build yet another city to destroy. Henry even hands a few blocks to Rocky so she can "help", which just means she throws the blocks at the buildings instead of driving a car into them. This time with their kids truly is just what the Prentiss women needed to clear their heads and hearts after the nasty missive Emily had received at the office.


	2. Chapter 2

At 9 a.m. the next morning the team is in the conference room. They are not doing their usual debrief on the just solved case. Instead, they are staring at piles of printouts Garcia, with Hotch's help, had pulled the day before. Hotch stares at them.

"Based on the letter Prentiss received we know the man we are calling amongst ourselves 'The Puppet Master' is at work again. That name does NOT leave this team, understood?" The team nods. "Good. Garcia and I pulled unusual deaths in the states around Utah. There is a chance he has not committed his first proxy kill yet but we're going to make sure if he has we know before he wants us to."

All the agents had brought in their own files on this elusive unsub. As Hotch had continued to speak regarding the cases stacked in front of them JJ stares at a photo of the man that had tried to kidnap her…twice. She suddenly frowns and sits forward. Something is ringing as familiar about him. Reid glances at her.

"You okay?" he whispers.

JJ just nods. She takes her Sharpie and starts to shade in the picture. She adds a scraggly beard to the man, studying it when she finishes. She then marks in an unkempt mustache.

"Son of a bitch," she mutters.

She next inks in unruly hair. Reid gasps as he now sees it, too. JJ looks up, interrupting Hotch.

"It's the fucking janitor!"

Hotch sputters to a stop. "What?"

JJ holds up the picture. "He was the janitor in Detroit. And I think he was the janitor in Lancaster, too. That's how he knew we were closing in and he had to make his move."

Hotch stares at the picture, also seeing it. "Son of a bitch." He spins to Garcia. "They would have done background checks and taken fingerprints."

Garcia leaps up. "Got it, sir. Back as soon as I have the information." She hurries out, knowing he is asking her to forget about proper channels and just hack the information.

Emily sits forward. "So think he is pulling that again? Maybe we can get word out to police precincts in those states we think he may be operating in."

Hotch nods. "It's a thought. Truth is he may have other jobs that give him the same sort of access to potential weapons and victims."

Morgan shrugs. "At least it's a thought." He taps the case files. "Let's look through these. If we find potential crimes of his we can at least touch base with those precincts."

Hotch nods. "Let's get to work. Garcia can also do one of her things to check employees at the stations we flag." He makes eye contact with each member of his team. "This is his last reign of terror. We end this on our terms, not his. And none of us become one of his marks."

The team nods. Under the table, Emily squeezes her wife's leg as JJ pats that hand. They then grab the stack in front of them and start reading, trying to find a link to their foe.

* * *

At 9:45 Garcia walks backs into the conference room. "Sorry it took me so long but I am so angry at several computers right now I don't even know what to do with them!"

The team can't help but smile at the colorful analyst's rant at inanimate objects.

"I was able to pull the official photos and fingerprints of the two janitors in questions."

"Are they the unsub?" JJ asks eagerly.

"Yes and no."

Morgan frowns. "Come again?"

Garcia waves her hands in frustration. "If you all would just let me TALK I will explain! Now hush!" The agents all clamp their mouths shut. "The photos show that he is most definitely the same person. However, not only are his fingerprints different in both cities they are most definitely not his." She plugs in a flash drive and pulls up the picture of the clean-cut unsub. "Here is the bastard's picture in Lancaster." She clicks the remote. "Here he is attempting to kidnap Jayje. Same man." She clicks again and pulls up the picture of an African-American man. "Here is the owner of the fingerprints on file. Granted, he is a killer but he died in jail 2 years ago."

"How the fuck?" Emily asks.

JJ shrugs. "He jammed the cameras at the station twice. He knows computers. He must have purged his fingerprints at some point and put in someone else's. Had they run those prints he'd have never gotten the job."

"Score one for the former liaison," Garcia says. "I found the purge but he is so good I haven't yet found the original file."

"But if he purged it how can you find it?" Reid asks.

"Really, Dark Ages Doctor, you want a technical explanation? Really?" Garcia says, irritated at the continued interruptions.

Reid blushes. "Uh, never mind."

"Needless to say, I am still hunting. Now, Detroit." She pulls up his scraggly picture. "Here he is as we knew him in the Motor City." She pulls up the mug shot of a Caucasian woman. "But here are his fingerprints. She, too, died in jail. Cirrhosis of the liver. And, yes, he has purged his original records but I am also searching for them in that system. Unless he is better than me, and fat chance of that, I _will_ find his fingerprints and run his ass."

Morgan leans forward. "Garcia, you've run his face through programs that would have pulled up a mug shot. What are the chances he could have purged that information, too, which means unless we know where he is originally from and you find that purge in their computers you won't find him?"

Garcia nods and looks to Hotch. "I wasn't going to point that out but my Sugarplum is correct if he has, indeed, purged his own records."

Hotch nods. "And what are the chances of that?"

"Sadly, I'd say pretty damn good," she admits.

Hotch nods. "Very good, Garcia. Keep doing what you can."

She nods. "Yes, sir." She looks to the others. "Sorry, guys." She leaves to go back to her lair.

The agents sit in silence a few minutes. Emily slowly shakes her head.

"It's just like Boise," she says. She looks at Morgan. "Who don't you see?" she asks, reminding them of the question they had asked themselves about that killer.

Morgan nods, understanding. "He was around us twice and we never saw him. And we're fucking profilers." His voice is laced with disgust. "We missed him and he was right in front of us."

Hotch sees the doubts starting to creep into his team. He sits forward. "We won't miss him again. Let's find him." He points to the cases. "If he's not here it's only because he hasn't killed yet. Let's limit his victim numbers this time."

The team nods and gets back to work.

* * *

At 11:30 Emily goes after her third cup of coffee of the morning. She is stretching her neck as she stirs.

"How goes it, Agent Prentiss?"

Emily turns to find Chief Straus standing in the kitchenette. Emily sighs and leans back against the counter.

"It's days like this I realize just how many sick, demented individuals there are out there. It's not a comforting thought."

"In other words too many leads to narrow down a suspect pool," Straus concludes.

Emily nods. "Yes, ma'am."

Straus just nods. What more could be said to that depressing thought? "How is your eye? It looks like it took another blow."

Emily nods. "Unfortunately it did. I was transporting the girlfriend of the killer. She panicked when we saw him at a red light. She hit me in an attempt to get me to let her go." Emily sighs. "It worked. Jumped out of my SUV when it was doing about 70."

"Oh, good Lord! Is she okay?"

Emily nods. "Broken bones and a concussion but mostly okay."

"That's good. There's no…I mean she's not…"

"As far as I know she's not holding me, or the FBI, accountable. If she tries, it's on dash cam on one police car and on several street cams that she was fighting to get out as I was fighting to keep her in. We should be okay."

Straus nods. "Good. With all that's happening right now the last thing we need to worry about is a frivolous lawsuit or accusations of negligence."

Emily nods. "Yes, ma'am. Well, I better get back in there. Sadly, there are plenty more files to look through."

Straus nods as Emily makes her way back to the conference room. She drops into her chair, her mind on something Straus had said. She hadn't even considered Sara Wilder potentially filling a charge or a lawsuit for the SUV accident. JJ taps her on the arm.

"You okay?" she asks in a whisper.

Emily blinks and shakes her head. "Yeah. Fine. Just something Straus mentioned. It's nothing." She grabs a file and looks at her wife. "Really, Jen, it's nothing."

JJ raises an eyebrow, the message clear: we'll talk about it later. Emily just smiles and nods as she starts to read the next murder file.

* * *

At 12:30 Morgan throws the last case down. They had culled out a total of 12 murders in 3 states. Hotch stares at the names on the board.

"How sure are we about these?"

Emily shrugs. "The two I found were just…I'd need to see more. They were just unusual."

Everyone agrees with that assessment. Hotch turns and picks up the files. "I'll call the detectives and try to get more information sent to us."

"We could help," JJ offers.

Hotch shakes his head. "No, it needs to come from more than just someone they can write off as an over-eager agent. No offense to any of you but it's how they may see things." The agents nod in understanding. "If any offer us a chance to visit in person to evaluate the situation Morgan and Prentiss you'll be going."

Morgan and Emily nod. JJ stiffens immediately…which doesn't go unnoticed by anyone. Hotch says nothing more. He walks to his office to start to make calls. Reid, Morgan and Rossi quietly leave. Rossi closes the door behind himself. Emily looks at JJ.

"I'll be okay."

JJ is staring at the table, her knuckles white as she clenches her fists together. "Why you? Why not Rossi?" she asks stressfully.

"Morgan and I work well together. We always have. Morgan is good at talking to the cop's cop types and I'm good with the diplomacy." She grins. "Go figure."

JJ takes a deep breath. "But he's after us. You said it yourself."

"And we both know if Rossi goes and Puppet Master decides to make a move he'll take one of them. He's several steps ahead of us no matter what. We can't help that, Jen. But we can try to catch up a bit by going to him instead of waiting for his next contact."

JJ stares at her hands for a moment. She finally turns to look at her wife. "I swear to God, Emily, if he gets a hold of you I'll…I'll…"

Emily nods. "I know. That's how I felt when you were on that island." She reaches over and covers JJ's hands with one of her own. "How about we get Garcia and go to lunch. We need to get away from here for a while."

JJ nods. They stand to move to their desks. JJ grabs Emily and gives her a deep kiss. "I love you, Emily."

Emily strokes a hand down her wife's face. "I love you, too, Jen."

As they are gathering their things, Morgan walks up to JJ. "I'll have her back, JJ. You know I will."

JJ smiles and nods. "I know. Thank you."


	3. Chapter 3

When the Prentiss women get home that night they find Rocky playing on her blanket on the floor of the playroom. And Henry sitting in the time out chair. JJ raises an eyebrow.

"Dare we ask, Francesca?"

Francesca looks at Henry. "Henry?"

Henry sighs, his shoulders slumping. "No biting," he whispers.

"Who did he bite?" Emily asks.

"Rocky. She grabbed a toy he was playing with," Francesca explains.

JJ puts her hands on her hips. "Henry, the biting has to stop! Next time it's not just a time out." She looks at Francesca. "He got a swat on the butt?"

Francesca nods. "Yes. What next?"

"Start taking away favorite toys," JJ states. "He loses them for a week."

Henry looks up, tears in his eyes. He may not know how long a week is but he knows he doesn't like the sound of it. He sniffles. "I sorry, Mommy."

JJ nods. "I know you are. But being sorry isn't the same as not doing it. You bite, you lose a toy. Do you understand?"

Henry's shoulders slump. He just nods sadly.

"Good." JJ turns to her wife and sees Emily is near tears. The blonde rolls her eyes and whispers. "Oh for pities sake, Em, be strong."

"But he looks so sad," Emily says softly.

JJ grabs her by the arm and leads her out of the room. She stares at her wife. "Look, you can't give in to him or to Rocky every time they look sad. Kids need discipline and need to learn right from wrong. One way to do that is take away favorite toys. That is something he will understand and remember."

Emily nods. "I know. Just…he looks so sad."

JJ stares at her wife a moment then starts to chuckle. "I always thought I'd be the pushover parent." She kisses her wife. "He'll be okay, Em. Taking away a toy isn't fatal. I promise."

Emily manages a smile. "I know. I just…gosh, I hate when he looks that sad. Rocky's going to be the same way. When did I turn into such a wimp?"

JJ chuckles. "I think when Henry was about, oh, 5 minutes old."

Emily blushes and nods. "Uh, yeah, that's probably about right. I promise to try to get better. And I promise not to undermine you with the kids."

"Thank you. That will be the most important thing, especially as they get older."

"I know. I…remember my parents playing games, using me against each other. It won't happen here, Jen. I swear," Emily vows.

JJ nods. "I know. You're a good mother, Emily. You won't make the mistakes that hurt you. I'm sure of it. Come on, let's go get changed and spend the evening playing with our kids."

Emily smiles and nods. "Sounds perfect."

* * *

That night, after the kids are in bed, JJ can't find her wife. She checks the basement, thinking maybe she was using the treadmill or universal machine but no Emily. She rechecks the main level of the house but still no brunette. Upstairs she goes room to room until finally noticing the light on in the private office. She taps on the door before opening it.

"Em? What are you doing?"

Emily sighs and sits back in the desk chair. "Just…going over stuff again."

JJ walks over and looks down. "You brought copies of the 12 files home? Why? It's out of our hands now."

Emily nods. "I know. I just…thought maybe…if I just…"

JJ raises an eyebrow. "You were checking the ones you didn't pick." She places her hands on her wife's shoulders. "Honey, if you start second guessing the team, or even yourself, you're playing into his hands. If we aren't united, we'll lose to him. Again. And this time it could be fatal to one of us."

Emily takes the hands on her shoulders. "Part of me knows that. Part of me says the answer is right in front of me if I just keep pushing."

"Emily, it's possible none of these murders are his. You have to keep that in mind. These 12 cities now have his face, his m.o., everything we have on him. And, if needed, you and Morgan will go take a look at things in person. God knows that terrifies me but that's where things stand. Let it go for now."

Emily slowly nods. "Right."

JJ stares at her wife's face a minute then chuckles. "That's it. I tried cajoling, tried convincing. Now I'm ordering: get your ass out of this office, get in bed, and let me put in a movie to turn your mind off for a while."

"Let me just- -"

"NO! Get your ass in bed, woman!" JJ orders again, pointing.

Emily chuckles. "I can't pee first?"

JJ grins. "Oh. Uh, sure. Then bed for a movie of my choice."

Emily nods and stands. She pulls JJ close. "Thank you, sweetheart."

A few minutes later Emily crawls into bed and snuggles up to her wife. "Jen, I swear if you've put Cars in I will kick you out of the bedroom."

JJ laughs. "Nope, not Cars."

She hits play and Emily's jaw drops open.

"Really? You're going to watch this with me?"

JJ kisses her wife's temple. "You're the one that needs to relax. Besides, I don't mind it. Just not usually my first choice."

Emily looks up and kisses her wife. "Thank you, baby."

Emily leans into her wife's arms, her head nestled on the blonde's shoulder as the familiar beginning of Star Wars starts to scroll up the screen.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Emily has just put her briefcase on her desk when Hotch leans out of his office. "Prentiss, get with Morgan. You have 2 appointments today and 2 tomorrow. He has your itinerary."

Emily nods. "Yes, sir." She glances at her wife and shrugs. "Think if you all meet us somewhere you can bring me a few pairs of clean undies?"

JJ laughs. "Yeah, I could probably do that."

Emily goes to Morgan's office and sees he is already packing up his briefcase. He hands her a folder.

"We leave in 2 hours for Ogden, UT. After that it's Salt Lake. We'll fly tonight down to Arizona to meet with cops in Flagstaff and then Mesa. If any place looks promising we stay there and call in the team. I emailed the itinerary to JJ."

Emily nods. "Good plan. Let me grab my bag and briefcase. I'll ride with you to National. Thanks for sending it to Jen."

Morgan nods and Emily heads back to her desk to grab her things. She looks at her wife.

"Seen it?"

JJ nods. "Yep. I sent it Francesca, too."

"Good. I'll call you sometime tonight to let you know what's going on."

JJ raises an eyebrow. "And you plan to text me when you get there, right?"

Emily smiles. "Yes, I will. I love you, baby."

"I love you, too. Be careful, Em."

"Does this look like the face of someone who isn't careful?" she jokes, her right eye a still ugly black and blue, red marks showing the healed cuts that had recently been stitched closed.

"Do I need to loan you a mirror?" JJ jokes back.

JJ walks her wife to the elevator. Then, security cameras be damned, gives her a kiss goodbye.

"I love you, Em."

"I love you, too. Talk to you later."

JJ looks at Morgan as he walks up. "Take care of each other."

Morgan smiles and nods. "Always." After they get in the car, Morgan glances at Emily. "So, uh, is the Ambassador's daughter flying coach?"

Emily laughs as she pulls out her phone…and credit card. "Hell, no."

"And her daughter's best friend?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Like I could deal with your whining if I didn't upgrade you, too."

He pats her on the leg. "Sweet, Princess. You're still my favorite brunette profiler."

Emily laughs. "Right. I'll remember that you specified brunette."

* * *

Several hours later they land in Salt Lake City and drive south to Ogden for their first meeting. When they arrive at the police station Morgan extends his hand to Detective Emma White. "SSA Derek Morgan, this is SSA Emily Prentiss. I believe you spoke with our boss?"

White nods. "Yes, I did. Everything I have is set up in the next room. To be honest, I was at a loss until he called. Is it bad I hope you figure out this is your guy so I can give a family an answer?"

Emily smiles kindly. "Not at all. Well, let us take a look without your input. Once we're done we'll call you in and discuss everything."

White nods. "Sounds good. If you need anything give me a holler. I'll be pacing out here with my fingers crossed."

Morgan smiles and nods. "Understandable."

He and Emily walk into the room. They see instead of a murder board the whole case is laid out on the table. Emily sighs.

"It had already been shelved. She pulled it out for us."

Morgan nods. "Yep. Well, you start that end I'll start this end. Let's see what we have by the middle."

Emily nods and goes down to the autopsy reports and pictures as Morgan starts to comb through the collected evidence. They pass each other in the middle of the table, looking at everything. When they are done, Emily sits down.

"This isn't our guy."

"Nope. But who the hell is it? Can we at least help her out some?"

Emily nods. "I think we can give her a direction to look into. Male, 25-30, outsider, rebelling against all religion."

"But not necessarily Goth. Would appear normal but when he feels religion is hurting him he lashes out," Morgan continues. "Maybe works for a religious organization out of necessity and hates it?"

Emily mulls that over. "Sounds right. He can't stand his lot in life and killing like this is the only way he feels in control. This isn't his first and it's not his last."

"Sadly, I think you're right."

Morgan steps out of the conference room and calls White in.

"Please tell me you have good news," she pleads.

Morgan shrugs. "Yes and no. He's not our guy but we can at least give you a profile that might help push you in the right direction."

He and Emily give her the profile they had worked up. As she finishes, Emily sighs.

"And there's a good chance you already spoke to him. He's proud of this. He'd want to know how much he'd disrupted the world around him."

White stares at them. "Damn. I…there was this guy…he just gave me the creeps. Not exactly something I could arrest him for, you know?"

Emily nods. "I understand. Don't get pigeon-holed on him but definitely take another look at him and anyone else you spoke with."

White nods. "I will. Thank you."

She shakes their hands. Out in their rental, Morgan sighs. "One down, 3 to go."

* * *

At 9:30 p.m. Pacific time, Emily drops backwards onto her hotel room bed in Phoenix, AZ. It's not the first time she's done so many cities in such a short time but…

"I'm getting too old for this shit," she mutters.

She knows it is nearly 12:30 a.m. back home so she just sends out a quick text to JJ.

_Just got the hotel. Storm delayed our flight in the air for about 2 hours. Going to bed now. We'll drive up to Flagstaff in the morning and then drive back down to Mesa in the afternoon. Love you, Jen._

As she is laying there trying to decide if she wants to order a light dinner or not she gets a text back. She is surprised.

_Glad you all made it. Was getting worried. Good luck tomorrow and be safe. I love you._

Emily smiles and sets her phone aside. She grabs the room phone and orders a salad, knowing JJ wouldn't be happy if she skipped dinner. While she waits she pulls out the case files they will be delving into tomorrow. She spreads out the pictures from the crime scenes on her bed. She has just finished reading an autopsy report when her dinner arrives.

Without thinking, she answers the door and asks the young man to put her dinner on the table. As she is signing the bill, she doesn't notice the young man's eyes widen at the graphic pictures on the bed. His eyes sweep the room, landing on the two firearms sitting on the dresser. Emily hands him the signed meal receipt.

"Thank you. Have a good night," she says with a smile.

He nods and quickly leaves. Emily just shrugs it off. She grabs the second autopsy report and starts to read it as she sits down to eat her salad. She has not been finished long when there is a knock at the door. Assuming it's Morgan, she goes to answer. When she checks the peep hole just in case she frowns, seeing 2 police officers standing there. She opens the door in alarm.

"What's wrong?"

"Ma'am, can you step into the hall a moment, please?" One officer asks.

Emily sees both men are nervous, their hands hovering near their firearms. She raises an eyebrow.

"What is this about?"

"Please step in the hall, ma'am," he asks again.

"It's Agent, actually," she says as she steps into the hall.

The other officer goes in. A moment later he steps out, holding her guns carefully by the grips. The older officer nods towards them.

"Care to explain those?"

Now Emily is mad. "The Second Amendment says I don't have to but I will anyway. I'm Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss of the FBI. I'm here to talk to a couple police detectives tomorrow about some recent murders. What the hell is this about?"

"Where are your credentials?" he asks without answering her question.

"They were beside my guns. Sidearm and clutch piece in case you need more info about them," she says angrily. "Now what the fuck is this about?"

The younger officer had stepped inside and found her badge case. He brings it out to his partner. The older man reads it and starts to chuckle. He hands it back to Emily.

"Sorry, Agent Prentiss. The waiter that delivered your dinner called us saying you had guns and pictures of dead people in your room. He was sure you were a hit woman or something."

Emily slowly grins. "Ah. Right. I guess sometimes we forget that what we see everyday isn't what others see everyday. I'm sorry you got sent out here for no reason."

The officer shrugs. "Hey, rather check out something like this than some of the other things we get called out on." He hands her back her credentials as his partner hands back her guns. "Sorry to disturb you. Good luck with everything tomorrow."

Emily nods. "Thank you. Have a good evening, officers."

While she had talked to the officers, Emily had never noticed the stairwell door at the end of the hall open briefly then shut again. She goes back in the room and clears off her bed. It may be only 10:30 local time but it's 1:30 according to her body. She gets ready for bed and is soon asleep.

* * *

Emily is pacing the lobby at 7:12 a.m. She was supposed to meet Morgan at 7 so they could drive up to Flagstaff to look through the first case files. She calls his cell and his room but gets no answer. An uneasy feeling settles in her stomach. She goes to the front desk and flashes her badge.

"I need a spare key to Agent Derek Morgan's room. Now."

"I don't know if I- -"

She waves her badge at him. "I said NOW," she commands.

The clerk nods nervously and gives it to her. Emily hurries to the elevator, willing it to go faster. She gets to Morgan's room and knocks. Still no answer. She slips the key into the slot, pulling her gun as she does. She flings the door open, immediately training her gun at the bathroom.

It is empty.

She kicks open the closet.

Empty.

She steps farther into the room.

Empty.

"What the hell, Morgan?"

She sees his guns and credentials sitting on the dresser as well as his room key. She digs into his go bag and finds his workout gear.

"Where are- -oh, my God…"

There is a message on the mirror that she prays is not written in his blood.

_See you in Flagstaff._

_Sincerely,_

_The Greatest Serial Killer You Will NEVER Know._

Emily whips out her phone and hits Hotch's number.

"Hotch! The fucking bastard has Morgan!"


	5. Chapter 5

Hotch storms out of his office and into the bullpen. "Conference room. NOW!" he commands. He calls Garcia from his cell phone. "Conference room."

The team jumps and everyone races in. As soon as Garcia gets inside he starts.

"He's in Flagstaff. He- -"

"How do we know?" Reid interrupts.

"Because last night he kidnapped Morgan and left a message for Emily."

"Oh my God. Is Emily okay?" JJ asks.

"She's fine. Mad as hell but fine. She's working with the locals to process the scene and is going to get video pulled and sent to Garcia." He looks at Garcia. "With us or staying here?"

Garcia thinks a moment, her mouth opening and closing silently as she processes everything Hotch has said. "Oh, God, I, uh, really want to be there for Morgan but everything I might need to do what I do is here. I'm better here, sir."

Hotch nods. "So be it. But be ready to hop on a plane if I decide we need you out there."

Garcia nods rapidly, as she does when terrified. "I will."

Hotch looks at the others. "Rest of you, wheels up in less than 30." He sighs. "We don't rest until we find Morgan. And it probably goes without saying that Prentiss is…is…"

Rossi nods, glancing at JJ. "I know. We all would be."

"We'll pick her up in Phoenix. No one and I mean NO ONE goes anywhere alone this trip. Always 2 of us together at least, not even a local officer counts as a second. Understood?"

The agents all nod. They hurry to their desks to gather their things. Driving to the airstrip, JJ calls Francesca to let her know what's going on. She tells her about Morgan, too.

"Oh, cara, Emily will be…oh, cara…"

"She's flipped based on what Hotch said. We'll take care of her, Francesca. I promise."

"I know, cara. Take care of yourself, too. I will say prayers for Derek's safe return."

JJ nods. "Thanks, Francesca. Give them an extra hug and kiss for me. I love you."

"Love you, too, cara. Worry not for the children. They will be just fine."

JJ smiles. "I know. See you in a few days."

"Goodbye, cara."

JJ hangs up the phone and says a quick prayer for Morgan and the team. She grabs her bags and heads onto the plane.

23 minutes after Hotch called them into the conference room the team is in the air heading for Arizona and a confrontation with The Puppet Master.

* * *

After calling Hotch, Emily had called the local police and hotel security. She'd had the hall sealed off to all but the police and guests staying on that floor. Now she paces in the hallway as two crime scene techs dust, take pictures, and take samples of the fluid used to leave the message. She stops as she sees the one swab the letters.

"Is it blood?"

The tech nods. "Yes."

Emily winces. "Oh, God…Derek what did he do to you?" she whispers.

Another tech stands, bagging something. She frowns.

"Is that a dart?"

The tech nods, securing the bag in a plastic container for safety. "Yes. Looks like a tranquilizer like you would see animal control officers use for wild animals."

"Shit." She turns as the local detective steps off the elevator. "Anything?" she asks him.

He shakes his head. "Not yet. Bastard didn't park here. We'll be pulling street cams and checking with local businesses to see if they have any video that could catch something."

Emily nods. "Make sure they send it to Garcia at Quantico just like the hotel video."

"We will." He takes a deep breath. "Uh, Agent Prentiss, my captain wants to speak with you. He needs to know about this guy and what it could mean to our city."

"It means nothing to this city," Emily states. "You saw the message. He's in Flagstaff. A murder up there alerted us to the possibility the unsub was there. He moved in to kidnap Morgan because we are right."

"But how could he know?"

"In the past he's managed to get a job as a janitor at a local police department. He may have done the same thing or maybe pulled some other ruse to get the information. Somehow he knew Morgan and I were coming and he knew where we'd be saying. He could have only gotten that information from the detective we were to meet with." She holds up a hand to stop his rant. "And no I don't think the cop gave it up on purpose. The unsub would have just taken it either off his desk or hacked his computer. None of us really notice the janitors. They are just people in the background of our lives and that's how he's managed to stay a step ahead. When the cops, or us, get too close, he can execute his end game and get out of town."

"You've been after him a while."

"Yes, we have. And we are pretty sure he's got more kills under his belt than we even know. He's prolific and he's good. But we're going to stop him this time. There is no other option," she vows.

The detective nods. "So, uh, the captain?"

"If he wants to talk to me he can come here. I'm not leaving until the techs finish or my team is about to land."

The cop nods. "Yeah, can't say I blame you." He extends his hand. "Good luck, Prentiss.

"Thanks, Detective," she says, shaking his hand.

She stares back into the room, asking questions in her mind. _"Why did you open the door for him, Morgan? What made you throw caution to the wind and open up? Okay, maybe the thought of him being out in the hallway never crossed your mind. But still, why open the door? What ruse got him in? Obviously a dart was used to subdue you but he still had to get you to open the door. And then how did he get you out? No way you walked out with him. Not even if he claimed to have me. You wouldn't have fallen for that."_

She squints at something that seems out of place. "Hey, guys, is that a dinner tray?"

One of the tech looks at it and nods. "Yeah."

"He ate on the plane. I didn't like the selections but he did. He didn't order dinner last night. Bag that tray in case the unsub used it somehow to trick his way into the room." Her phone starts to ring and she hits the answer button as she directs the tech. "Bag the plate cover and- -"

* * *

Once the plane has reached cruising altitude, JJ moves to the back of the plane for some privacy. She hits Emily's number.

"- -and make sure you bag that glass, too," Emily orders to someone where she is before speaking into the phone. "Prentiss."

"Emily."

Emily's shoulders sag. "Jen. God, Jen, he…he has Derek. He took him and I didn't stop him. I should have- -"

"Stop it, Emily. Stop it right now. 1) Morgan would be pissed if you felt guilty about this and 2) you couldn't predict this. Emily, forget guilt, control your anger. Get a hold of yourself for Derek."

Emily takes a couple of deep breaths. "Yeah…yeah, you're right. Thanks."

"No problem. We're in the air. Pilot has the most direct flight path cleared for us. Baby, be careful. He has Morgan but he may still want you, too."

Emily leans against the wall in the hallway, staring into Morgan's room. "I know. I doubt it based on his message but I also know he's not like anyone else we've ever dealt with. I'm being careful, I promise."

"You're not going to leave without us, are you?"

Emily grins. "No. Hotch warned me you'd cut me off for life in addition to whatever he'd do to me."

JJ smiles. "Damn right I would. But I know you wouldn't risk yourself. Not when our kids need you."

"Shit. Dirty pool, Jen."

JJ raises an eyebrow. "If it keeps you from talking yourself into going I'll play dirty all day."

"Right. Okay." Emily sighs. "Jen…to get through this…I may have to build up a few walls. Please don't think it means I hate you or- -"

"I won't, Em. I understand. Do what you have to do to make it through this."

"Thanks, baby."

JJ looks up as Hotch waves to her. "Uh, looks like Hotch wants to brief on the case out of Flagstaff. I'll call you when we get close so you can meet us at the airport."

"Okay. I'll let you know if there are any leads here. I love you, Jen."

"I love you, too, Emily. See you soon."

JJ hangs up and moves back to the middle of the plane. Hotch raises an eyebrow.

"How is she?"

JJ shrugs. "Stressed. Warned me she's going to start getting all compartmentalized again. She'll be better when we get to Flagstaff and she feels like we're doing something more than waiting."

Hotch nods. "I know the feeling. Let's discuss- -"

Before he can finish, Garcia pops up on the laptop sitting on the table. "I got the security videos. It's definitely our unsub." She takes deep breath. "He, um, went after Emily first."

"WHAT?" JJ screams.

"Garcia, explain," Hotch orders, placing a hand on JJ's shoulder.

"He went up the stairwell. When he opened the hallway door he saw Emily talking to two cops in the hallway. He closed the door and continued on to the next floor."

"Why was Emily talking to the cops?" Rossi asks.

"I don't know. But here's the splice of what happened."

Garcia's image is covered as another window pops up. The team watches the unsub walk up the steps to the fourth floor. He eases open the door. The shot splits to show Emily talking to the police, an irritated look on her face. The unsub closes the door and moves to the fifth floor. In the hallway, he picks up a tray that had been in front of someone else's door. He straightens it a bit to make it look new and approaches Morgan's door. He taps on it, standing so his face is blocked by the tray. It takes a second and he seems to be having a chat with Morgan. Finally the door opens and he shoots Morgan.

"Oh my God!" JJ blurts.

"Dart gun. Like at a zoo," Reid states.

JJ takes a deep breath and nods. "Right. Still…"

The unsub carries the tray inside and shuts the door.

"He's wearing gloves," Hotch notes. The others nod.

The image and time stamp jump 30 minutes. The unsub walks out and takes the elevator down to the lobby. He gets back to the room 15 minutes later with a wheelchair. The time stamp jumps again to show him wheeling Morgan out at 3:30 in the morning. The agent is wrapped in a blanket as if he is an invalid. He is unmoving. A hat is pulled low on his head.

Garcia minimizes that window. "Unfortunately, once he walks out the side door he makes sure to get out of camera range. Kevin and I scanned all the cameras on the hotel lot and no vehicle leaves during that time. He had to have parked somewhere else. We're searching businesses around the hotel to see if they have security videos that may have caught anything."

"Well done, Garcia."

"Thank you, sir. Uh, Jayje? Have you talked to her?"

JJ nods. "She'll be okay. Stressing right now but she'll be fine."

"Good. Give her a hug for me."

JJ smiles and nods. "You got it. And Garcia? If you talk to her, don't tell her she was his first choice. I'll tell her."

Garcia nods. "Okay. Love you guys."

Garcia's image disappears. JJ is staring out the window when she realizes all eyes are on her. She slowly turns to look at the team.

"What?"

"Are you okay now that you know he wanted her first?" Rossi asks.

"Hell no I'm not. But I'm focused on the case. There will be time for fear after we catch this bastard."

Rossi smiles. "Well said." He looks at Hotch. "So, what drew us to Flagstaff?"

Hotch opens the folder in his hands. "Reid culled this one from the stacks yesterday. Local police were stunned when they found a middle-aged father of 2 dead in a local park. He was shirtless and two votive candles had been left to burn out on his chest, one white and one purple."

"Postmortem?" JJ asks.

Hotch nods. "Yes. Autopsy shows he had been beaten most likely with a 2x4 in the shins, knees and thighs. His hands and ankles show ligature marks. He had been reported missing after not returning home from work. He usually called his wife from the car on the way home but he didn't that night leading police to believe his killer may have been in the car when he left the parking lot."

"Has his car been found?" Reid asks.

"Not yet."

JJ raises an eyebrow. "Any swamps nearby where it could be sunk like in Georgia?"

"No," Hotch answers. "And just before we left the detective we will be working with called as another man was reported missing last night."

"So he's already got victim 2," JJ says. "Great."

Rossi drops the folder down. "We're seeing the torture aspect again. Probably making them confess to something and they get beaten until they confess. How did he finally die?"

Hotch glances down at the paper. "Asphyxiation. No signs of strangulation or fibers in the throat."

"Plastic bag over the head maybe?" JJ suggests.

"Possibly. It would give the victim even more time to 'confess' to whatever perceived sin put them on the unsub's radar," Hotch agrees.

"What do we know about the second possible victim?" Reid wants to know.

"Nothing yet. He's getting information to Garcia for her to pull as much as she can. With 2 people to crosscheck she's trying to find where they may have met their killer."

Rossi frowns. "What's with the candles?"

JJ shrugs. "Well, when you burn those two candle colors together they supposedly neutralize the effects of karma and ego." Everyone stares at her in surprise. She blushes. "I, um, dated a girl in college who was all into candles and karma and stuff. She had this poster on her wall above her footboard that explained candle meanings."

Hotch nods, blushing. Rossi chuckles, understanding why JJ may have had cause to stare up at it a lot. Reid just seems to know he's missed something.

"Okay, so we have confessions and cleansing. Now we just need to connect the dots between the victims and predict who might be next," Hotch says.

"And pray it isn't Morgan," Reid mumbles sadly.

The agents nod all wishing the plane could fly just a little faster.


	6. Chapter 6

Emily bounds up the steps of the plane. She tosses both go bags and both briefcases into the aisle and starts to pull up the steps. Hotch grabs her arm.

"I've got this, Prentiss. Go sit down and have JJ catch you up on what we know. You can catch us up afterwards."

Emily nods and moves to her wife's side. She sees Reid and Rossi staring at her. Her shoulders slump.

"I'm sorry. I swear I am so sorry."

Rossi pats her arm. "Not your fault, Prentiss. You know that. Let's just get him back."

Emily nods and sits down beside JJ. JJ had gone over the conversation they needed to have a thousand times but there's just no easy way to start.

"First of all," she kisses her wife. "I love you."

Emily nods. "I love you, too. What's wrong?"

JJ sighs. "Garcia reviewed the hotel footage. The unsub…he went for you first but you were talking to some cops."

Emily pales, her mouth dropping open. JJ takes her hands.

"Emily, don't do that…I can see you blaming yourself. Stop it now it's not going to do us or Morgan any good if you let guilt take over."

Emily stares at the seat in front of her. The seat Morgan normally sits in during flights to a new case. Emily leaps up and races for the bathroom. As she is losing what's left of her breakfast she feels a hand gather up her hair and another hand stroke her neck.

"Easy, Em. Just relax."

Emily finally slumps back against her wife's legs. She raises a shaky hand to her mouth.

"I…I kinda knew. Or at least thought. But…but to _know_…fuck, Jen. He's my best friend and he was taken in my place. How do I box this shit up and ignore it? How?"

"You do it because he needs you at your best to find him. Do it for Derek, Emily."

Emily just nods. "Give me a second?"

"Of course."

JJ steps out, closing the door as she does. She drops into her seat.

"Can we do anything for her?" Reid asks.

"No, she just needs to get control of her emotions. She'll be fine." JJ looks up at a concerned Hotch. "She will be."

Hotch nods. "I know."

In the bathroom, Emily is staring at herself in the mirror. She traces a finger along the red line on her forehead, a reminder of her fight with Myron Phillipe. She presses gently on the swelling under her right eye, remnant of the hit she took from Sara Wilder.

"One more scar, Prentiss. This one is on your heart. Stitch it closed for now. You can rip it open later after you get your best friend back and kill the fucker that took him."

She stares into her eyes, seeing a hardness she hadn't seen in a lot of years. She recognizes it as the hardness that made her perfect for the Interpol position; the hardness that helped her become Lauren Reynolds. This is the Emily Prentiss who cared for no one but herself.

"I won't lose my humanity this time but I won't worry about emotions like love or friendship. Shove those in the box with your fear and find Derek Morgan. Find him then worry about finding yourself again."

Emily takes a deep breath and leaves the bathroom. She grabs a bottle of water and goes to her seat.

"Okay, let's run down what we know."

Everyone looks at her, they see the change. And for now they will let it go. Now…now, they had to find two men: one their friend, and one an enemy to all mankind.

Before anyone can speak, Garcia pops back up again. "We found how he got Morgan away. He just wheeled him down the street for 2 blocks where he got into a van. Plates on the van don't belong to that vehicle. Police suspect the van is stolen and they have an APB out on it."

"Makes sense if he had to hide both Morgan and a wheelchair," JJ says, nodding.

"Wheelchair?" Emily asks.

Rossi explains how Morgan was removed from the hotel. Emily just shakes her head.

"Why the hell did he open the door? Garcia, is there any record of him ordering room service?"

"Not that I've found," Garcia answers.

"He wasn't expecting to run into the unsub in Phoenix," Reid points out. "He may have assumed the waiter was at the wrong door. If the unsub faked a language barrier he may have opened the door to better explain," he hypothesizes.

"And here's the next question: how the hell did that bastard know where we were?" Emily demands to know.

"Hopefully we can find that answer out in Flagstaff," Hotch responds. "Emily, why were the cops at your door last night?"

Emily rubs her forehead. "I was going over the files for Flagstaff and Mesa. When the waiter brought my dinner he saw the crime photos, saw my guns, and somehow got it in his head I was a killer. He called the cops. They responded. I was pissed." She swallows, her voice raspy. "If he hadn't I'd…it would be me, not Morgan."

JJ grips her wife's hand. "Em, stop beating yourself up. None of this is your fault."

Emily just nods. Hotch is studying the brunette profiler carefully. She feels his scrutiny and glares at him.

"I'm mad, Hotch, but I'm not going to go off half-cocked. That would definitely get Derek killed and maybe me, too. I have 2 kids that don't deserve to lose their mother or their uncle."

Hotch slowly nods. "Okay." He glances at his watch. "We should be getting ready to land. Prentiss, did you or Morgan contact this detective?"

"Morgan did."

"Want to take point anyway?"

Something further settles inside Emily at Hotch's show of trust. She nods. "Yes. Thank you."

He nods. "Good." He looks at the computer. "Garcia, do you have information on the latest missing man yet?"

"Basics, sir. Right now I'm hacking…shit…I am…fuck…we're getting more. You know what? Forget I said anything after the basics. Garcia out."

She disappears from the screen. Her slip up about her hack into databases is a demonstration of how stressed she is about Morgan being missing. Hotch goes to his seat. He rubs his temple, a headache settling in for the long haul. Rossi sits down across from him.

"We'll find him, Aaron."

Hotch looks up at him. "You don't know that, Dave."

Rossi leans forward. "I know this team, including Morgan. Wherever he is, whatever he's going through, he knows that at some point we are going to come crashing through the door of his prison and get his ass out of there. And I plan to say I told you so when we do."

Hotch manages a half grin. "I'll hold you to that. If this missing man is one of ours, we need to find the connect between the two men faster than we ever have before. I'm telling you this now: if Garcia's illegal hacking is found out I'll say it was by my order. I need you to back me on that. She shouldn't be punished for doing what we need done."

Rossi nods. "I've got your back on it. But know I'll pull every string I have, call in every favor I'm owed if anyone dares try to railroad you or Garcia. Not for this. Not with this bastard."

Hotch just nods. He glances back at the rest of the team. So soon after Phillipe's island…is this the case that finally rips the team apart?


	7. Chapter 7

Hotch has just put his go bag in the back of one of the 2 SUV's that await them when his phone rings. Everyone stops what they are doing as he answers.

"Hotchner." He listens. "I see. Where?" He listens again. "We'll meet you there. Don't disturb the scene. It will help us to see it as he left it." He hangs up and looks at the team.

"Morgan?" Emily whispers, terrified.

Hotch shakes his head. "No. The man that went missing last night. He's been found at The Arboretum at Flagstaff. Let's go."

The teams jump into the SUV's, Hotch and Rossi driving. Emily's left leg bounces with nervous energy as she calls Garcia.

"Em, how are you?" Garcia asks nervously.

"Fine," she answers tersely. "They found the guy from last night. We need everything you have on him."

"Right. Sending what I have now. I'm still looking to connect him to the first victim."

Emily nods. "Good. Keep looking. Go back to the womb with their lives if you have to."

"I will. I swear. Emily…I love you, you know?"

Emily sighs. "I know. Thanks, PG. We'll call you when we need you again. Keep up the good work."

"Right. Take care." Garcia hangs up.

Rossi glances at Emily. "If you need to scream or vent…"

She nods, staring out the passenger window. "I know. Thanks, Dave," she says softly.

Rossi glances into the rearview mirror. JJ is staring at her wife, obviously trying to gauge how close to explosion the brunette is getting.

Rossi follows Hotch to the Arboretum. A state trooper directs them to the dump site by Elderberry Pond. They take the service road that gets them as close as possible to the cordoned off area. Emily leads them to the man who looks to be in charge.

"Detective Brad Flick?"

The man turns. "Agent Emily Prentiss?" Emily nods as he extends his hand. "Guess you were right about this bastard being serial."

Emily nods. "Yes. And about the main force behind your killer being an unsub we've been tracking over a year now."

Flick nods. "Yeah. Look, we've got everyone looking for Agent Morgan. We won't rest until he's found."

Emily gives him a tense smile. "Thank you." She introduces the rest of the team. "Any chance we can get up by the body on our own? It will help us to see it without being influenced by you or anyone else."

He nods. "Sure thing." He looks over at the two techs looking for clues on the ground. "Jeri, Tyler, let the agents take a look at everything."

The man and woman nod, walking over to stand by Flick as the agents move to the body. JJ sighs as she sees the body.

"Same color candles again. Reinforces that these killings are about karma or ego. Bad news is that kind of shit may not show up in records Garcia can find."

"But it's there. We just have to ask the right questions," Emily snaps.

JJ just turns and raises an eyebrow at her wife. Emily immediately looks contrite. "I…I'm sorry." JJ nods.

Rossi kneels down and studies the man's eyes. "No signs of strangulation but petechiae in the eyes suggest asphyxiation just like the first victim."

"We won't know about the beating on the legs until the m.e. gets the pants off but I can see the ligature marks on his wrists from here," Reid notes.

Hotch is looking around. "Why here? Why this point and not somewhere more…more crowded like the visitors center?"

Reid frowns, reviewing the information he had in his head. "This pond is home to an endangered fish. But dumping the body here maybe he's taking a stab disrupting a very important part of the ecosystem and a point of pride for the area."

Hotch nods. "Maybe."

"Water is cleansing," JJ points out. "Maybe it's just part of his delusion of this being some sort of healing ritual."

Hotch nods. "Also likely. Is there anything else we can learn here?"

"Only a question to be asked: why is he getting rid of their shirts?" Rossi ponders. "They aren't bloody on the upper body so it's not a forensic countermeasure."

"What if it's to see the stress on the body?" Emily suggests. Her eyes seem to be staring into herself, looking at a memory instead of the pond in front of her. "When you get beaten on your lower extremities your body tenses up. Veins pop out on your chest, shoulders, arms, neck in response to the negative and painful stimuli. If you are the one doing the beating you can use those as gauges for when you need to give your victim a break so you don't end the torture with their death or unconsciousness too soon."

The other four agents are silent. The monotone voice she had used was not one they had ever heard before. JJ steps up to her wife.

"Emily…what…how do you…"

Emily sighs and turns to them. "We should probably get to the station. Reid can start a geographic profile and the rest of us can start to dissect the lives of two men and their families to see why they were targeted by a maniac."

Emily walks back towards the police line. JJ watches her go, wondering not for the first time what her wife had gone through at the hands of Clyde Easter. The blonde looks at the others briefly before following her wife. She wants to question her some more but Emily rides to the station with Detective Flick so they can discuss how the team will be approaching the case.

* * *

At the station, Reid is glad to see the map he requested already up on a wall. He starts to mark the various points that help define a persons' life. Emily is staring at it and suddenly turns to the others.

"Once again the dump sites are places families would go; places that have importance to the community. The Arboretum today. The first body was found at Bushmaster Park right near the skate park area."

JJ nods, realizing Emily is not going to let anyone ask more about the torture information she had imparted.

"And in Lancaster, or rather in Charleston, they were dumped in places that were significant to locals. In Detroit it was the park saved by the community. This is our unsub's signature, not his puppet's," Emily concludes.

Hotch nods. "Right." He closes the door behind him.

Emily leans on the table. "While riding over here I told Flick we'd have to profile 2 people: the killer and the man guiding him. I told him it would take time so he gets that but at the same point he's as eager as we are to stop these bastards and find Morgan. Anything we need he'll make sure we have."

Hotch nods. "Good. We need to put word out to the public."

"Word about what?" Rossi asks. "Until we know what's driving the killings we don't what to tell anyone."

"That's why we need to work fast. I don't care if we warn them about 20 things. Let's not wait for victim 3 and 4 to narrow down our words of caution. If people are on alert they'll see something. And we need all the eyes looking for these two men."

Before he can say more there is a knock on the door. He opens it to admit Flick.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt. I just…fuck, we know how the bastard found out about Agents Morgan and Prentiss." He hands a piece of paper to Hotch. "He was disguised but he was our janitor. Works overnights so he's not in the way. We're skeleton crew at night so he could have seen whatever the hell he wanted sitting on my desk or even on my computer if he hacked into it."

Emily responds before Hotch. "Get in touch with Garcia. I gave you her number. Let her have access to your security videos from the time he was hired. We need to know the disguise he was using but also what files he was looking at and what might have led him to choose this particular person to kill for him."

Flick nods and goes back out. Hotch looks at the others.

"Rossi, JJ, check out the address the unsub used as- -"

"NO!" Emily snaps harshly.

Everyone turns to her. JJ looks offended. Rossi and Reid look uncomfortable. Hotch looks furious.

"You have a problem with me sending Agent Jareau, Agent Prentiss?" he asks stiffly.

Emily shakes her head. "No, sir. I mean, yes, sir, but not why you're thinking." She takes a deep breath. "Let's face facts: that's a fake address. At best it's someone who doesn't know their address was used for this cover. At worst it's a trap. We can't afford to go another agent down, let alone two. Get Flick to send a couple uniforms to check it out. If it really is The Puppet Master's place they can secure the scene and then we can go profile it."

JJ, Rossi and Reid turn back to Hotch, who considers what Emily says. He nods.

"You're right. Good call, Prentiss. And…I'm sorry."

Emily shrugs. "Understandable, Hotch."

Hotch goes out to see Flick about getting the address investigated. Emily grabs a folder off the table and sits down to start learning about The Puppet Master's second victim. The other agents just follow suit. JJ looks up and sees Rossi raises an eyebrow at her. JJ nods, a silent promise to speak with Emily before she is lost completely.


	8. Chapter 8

Two hours later Reid remains at the precinct, working with Kevin to plot each and every map point they can come up with for the two victims. Hopefully they will find the points where they cross over.

Hotch and JJ go to speak with the wife of the first victim as Rossi and Emily go to speak with the second widow. Perhaps it was a social thing, something that wouldn't show up in the mountains of data Garcia has at her hands, that will provide the link that will take them to Morgan and the unsubs.

In their SUV, Emily lets out the breath she'd been holding. "So…does Hotch think I'm a time bomb slowly ticking down to explosion?"

Rossi grins. "I think we all do. Yourself included in that."

Emily surprises herself by chuckling. "That's true." She takes a deep breath. "Dave, promise me when I piss Jen off, and I _will_ be pissing her off at some point, you'll be there to slap the crap out of me and comfort her."

Dave laughs. "I promise, Emily." He pats her leg. "Don't let the unsub win by taking your mind out of this. I know it's hard, hell it's hard for all of us, but just look at this like any other case."

Emily bites her lip a moment. "He's my best friend. And he was taken in my place."

"For which he's probably thankful. Tell me you wouldn't be the same way if that bastard had taken you."

"I know. Still…shit…" She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Just another case. Shit. Just another case where the people I love hang in the balance."

"This bastard isn't Phillipe, Emily."

Emily slowly turns and looks at Rossi. "You're right. We stopped Phillipe twice. So far this bastard has beaten us twice."

"Well, third times the charm, right?"

"Is that what you said the third time you got married?" she counters.

Dave chuckles. "Uh, no. I think I said three strikes and I'm out."

Emily grins. "Yeah, I can believe that."

Rossi pulls into the driveway of a quaint house on the outskirts of town. He taps his hands on the steering wheel.

"Who leads this dance?"

"You can. I'm not sure…my emotions are still…" her voice fades off.

"Right. I'll let you know if I get in trouble."

Emily grins at him and gets out of the SUV. Together they go try to find out the personal bits of a dead man's life that could have led to his murder.

"Mrs. Dales?" Rossi says to the woman that answers the door.

"Yes?"

"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Rossi with the FBI. This is SSA Prentiss. We're hoping to ask you a few questions about your husband."

She shrugs. "I told the police everything when they came to tell me he was dead."

Rossi studies her a moment. "You're not…as upset as you should be."

She sighs and gestures to the interior of the house. "Come in, Agents. I'll explain it all again." Once they are seated in the living room the woman clasps her hands together. "There was a time I loved Warren more than anything in the world. But sadly it has not been that way in a couple of years. I'll always feel something for him because of our children but, to be honest, he had too many affairs for me to still love him. We were living separately together only because of financial reasons. Neither of us can afford to buy the other one out of this house and we can't sell it in the current market. Am I upset that he's dead? Yes, for our kids. But am I surprised? No."

"Why aren't you surprised to hear he is dead?" Rossi asks.

Cynthia Dales looks towards the front window but she is seeing paths from two lives that diverged. She finally looks back at Rossi.

"He was…a good looking man. Always was. I have to admit I was proud to have him on my arm. Turns out a lot of women were. At first I denied it to myself. Then I convinced myself that at least he was a good father." She takes a deep breath and sighs. "But when he gave me HIV I knew I'd been a fool."

Rossi and Emily both wince.

"I am so sorry," Emily says honestly, her mind straying to her father's indiscretions.

Cynthia shrugs. "I'm doing okay. Meds are working, I feel great. Probably healthier than I've ever been because I just don't want to die."

Emily smiles understandingly as she nods.

"Truth is, Agents, I think the police will find out that Warren was killed by either a jealous boyfriend or…or by a woman who he might have infected before he knew he had HIV."

Rossi and Emily exchange a look. Rossi sits forward in his seat. Obviously the police had not told the woman everything regarding her husband's death.

"Mrs. Dales, your husband was the victim of a serial killer. He is the second victim in this city."

The woman stiffens, looking to Emily as if the brunette will tell her Rossi is lying. Cynthia looks back at Rossi.

"But…but he…they said he's been beaten and strangled."

"Not exactly," Rossi says. "He was tortured by someone who wanted him to confess to something. Had it just been affairs or HIV he would have been killed sooner. Ma'am, we need to know anything else he did that could have been something that fed his ego; made him feel entitled or overly proud."

Cynthia is staring at Rossi in horror. She looks at Emily again. "He…he was tortured?"

Emily nods. "Yes, ma'am. In one previous city, the unsub was making the victims confess to minor crimes committed in a local park. It could be something as simple as a parking ticket but most likely your husband was targeted because he had several things to confess to. He would have admitted the glaringly obvious first which is why the unsub had time to hurt him. It is only when he finally gets around to what the unsub is wanting that death comes."

Cynthia stands and begins to pace. "So…so it could be a ticket? Or…or something minor? I just…assumed it was his health status or the fact that he kept flirting with women." She runs a hand through her hair. "God…"

"Can you think of anything that maybe even made you laugh because it was so silly? Fantasy football, a dart score, anything at all," Emily presses.

Cynthia shakes her head. Nothing. We just…didn't talk very much any more."

"Do you know his doctor? Was he seeing a psychologist or anything?" Rossi asks.

"Uh, yes to knowing his doctor. We have…uh, had the same one. He was seeing a shrink but I don't know who."

Rossi nods, knowing Garcia can track that down and probably already has.

"What were his hobbies?" Emily asks.

Cynthia snorts. "You mean other than women?" She rubs her arms as if she's cold. "He…he enjoyed fishing."

Rossi and Emily both raise their eyebrows, immediately thinking that could be why he was dumped near a pond with an endangered fish in it.

"He also liked online gambling. Not for real money, mind you, but the games like on Facebook and such." She chuckles. "He joked he had $25 million he could spend no place except on winning more fake money."

Emily nods. "Could be something about one of those games put him on the unsub's radar. Did the police take his computer?"

"Um, no. It's in the den still. Will it help to have it?"

"It could," Emily says. "Do you mind if we take it with us?"

"No, of course not. I do want justice if only for our children. Whatever I can do to help I will."

Rossi and Emily ask a few more questions. They collect the CPU and get the phone numbers for the Dales' 2 daughters. Both live in other cities so they hope they can just phone them as neither agent wants to leave with Morgan still missing.

They speak to Cynthia for another hour, finding every possible detail she can think of that might have put him on The Puppet Master's radar. When they get to the SUV, Rossi looks at Emily.

"You did great in there, kid."

Emily smiles and looks down at her hands. "It's crazy but…but questioning that woman, trying to find the answers…it settled me. I feel more settled now than I have since I realized something was wrong at the hotel this morning."

Rossi grins as he pulls out of the driveway. "What is it Reid says? How sad is it we look to death and mayhem to forget death and mayhem?"

Emily chuckles and nods. "Yeah. Pretty damn fucked." She sits silently for a few minutes. "Derek's not dead yet. He's the endgame. Puppet Master will kill his true target, kill his weapon and then kill Derek. We have time. We just…just have to use it to beat that fucker to the end."

Rossi smiles, nodding. "And there's the Emily Prentiss we've been missing."

Emily smiles. She now realizes she doesn't have to compartmentalize as much as she'd thought. She just needs to remember to rely on her team, her family, to help find Morgan and stop The Puppet Master once and for all.


	9. Chapter 9

There is an uneasy silence in the SUV as Hotch and JJ drive to the home of the first victim. Just before they arrive, Hotch takes a deep breath.

"If she can't rein in her emotions I may have to send her home. I don't want to do that."

JJ nods. "I know you don't. Hell, I'm not sure you could make her go. She'll do like I did when you were investigating Amy and throw her badge in your face."

Hotch manages a grin. "True."

"Don't worry, Hotch, Rossi will reach her. Plus…I think once she starts questioning the wife it will settle her. She just needs to feel like we're doing something rather than waiting for the next death."

Hotch nods. "That's what I think, too. A lot of eyes will be on us, JJ. So soon after Phillipe people will be watching us to see us crack or just fail."

"They can go fuck themselves. We'll find Morgan and we'll stop the Puppet Master this time. There are no other options."

Hotch grins. "Well said." He pulls into a driveway in a quaint neighborhood. He stares at the house a moment. "Both victims live in nice, middle class communities. Nothing screams ego here."

"Could be karma is the key or it could be his ego manifests some other way or some other place," JJ points out.

"True. Well, let's go see what this man did that put him on the unsub's hit list."

JJ nods, following Hotch up to the house. Hotch rings the doorbell and is surprised when a young boy answers the door. Hotch realizes this must be the 6 year old son of the victim.

"Hi, you must be Michael." Hotch holds up his badge. "My name is Aaron Hotchner and I'm with the FBI. Is your mother home?"

Michael nods. "Yes."

"Uh, can we speak to her?" Hotch asks.

"She's sleeping in the kitchen."

Hotch and JJ exchange a look. "In the kitchen? You mean at the table?" Hotch confirms.

"No."

JJ is already pulling out her phone, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. Hotch doesn't want to worry the boy.

"Michael, is she on the floor?" The boy nods. "Michael, this is Jennifer. She's also an FBI agent. Why don't you stay with me while she goes to speak with your Mommy."

Michael just shrugs. JJ quickly steps past him into the house. She makes her way back to the kitchen. From the hallway she can already see the woman's feet. She jogs in and kneels down, praying to find a pulse. Instead, she finds the woman is dead and cold. JJ reaches down and picks up a pill jar that had once held anti-depressants. She slowly stands and calls Detective Flick.

"Flick? It's Agent Jareau. Hotch and I just found Marie Stevens dead, probably suicide."

"Son of a bitch," Flick mutters.

"Yeah. Can you make the calls to the coroner and crime scene techs." Her mind flashes to the 6 year old boy who answered the door. "And child services or next of kin if you know them. Shit, I need to go see if I can find the 4 year old."

She hangs up before he responds. In the hallway she just shakes her head at Hotch. She kneels down beside Michael.

"Michael? Where's your little sister?"

"Upstairs."

The little boy is obviously in shock. JJ knows she may not have time to push for more information. She races up the stairs. The third room she looks in contains a toddler bed. She can see an arm hanging out of the covers. She shivers and slowly approaches. Easing back the covers she sees a little toe-headed girl.

"Samantha?" she asks nervously.

She reaches out and strokes a hand over the little girl's messy hair. She finally releases the breath she had been holding when the little girl shifts at the touch.

"Oh, thank God," JJ whispers.

The little girl sits up, rubbing her eyes with her little fists. She then takes a good look at JJ and frowns.

"Who you?"

JJ smiles. "My name is Jennifer. I'm a policewoman."

Samantha seems to accept that with no problem. She smiles at JJ. "Hi."

JJ can't help but chuckle. "Hi. Can you come with me to see Michael?"

Samantha nods. JJ lifts her up and carries her downstairs. She finds Hotch and Michael sitting on the lawn as the first police cars start to arrive. Michael is tracing his finger around Hotch's badge. JJ sits down beside them, Samantha happily sitting in her lap. JJ looks at Hotch, who just shrugs.

The Puppet Master had decimated a family in a way they had not seen to this point.

* * *

Two hours later JJ and Hotch walk into the conference room. Emily, Rossi and Reid look up. Emily frowns.

"What's wrong, Jen?"

Hotch shuts the door as JJ drops into the chair beside her wife. Emily immediately starts to rub her wife's shoulders.

"When we got to the Stevens' house their son answered the door. Told us his mother was asleep in the kitchen. She'd…she'd killed herself. Took a bunch of pills. Must have done it last night," JJ recites in a monotone voice.

"Oh, God," Emily whispers, pulling JJ close.

"Child Services is trying to get in touch with Marie's parents so they can take custody of the children or sign them over to the state for emergency placement," Hotch finishes.

The agents sit around for a few minutes, each contemplating the unintended victim The Puppet Master has claimed. Finally Hotch stands.

"I need a coffee. JJ?"

JJ nods. "Definitely. Any chance you can add a shot of bourbon?"

Hotch gives her a small grin. "Sorry, not this time."

JJ just shrugs. Rossi and Reid go back to the papers in front of them. Emily just watches her wife for a moment. JJ finally turns and meets concerned brown eyes.

"I'll be okay. Just…those poor kids. They've lost both their parents for no good reason."

"I know, sweetheart. But we'll find the men who killed their father and, by proxy, their mother. We'll make it as right for them as we can."

JJ takes a deep breath and nods. "Keep telling me that?"

Emily kisses her temple. "As many times as you need, whenever you need."

JJ is already starting to feel better by the time Hotch returns with her coffee. Add in her dose of caffeine, and she's back to the business at hand. Hotch looks at the others.

"So, what do we have?"

Emily glances at her notes. "Dales' estranged wife gave us everything she knows about his hobbies, interests, old friends, the women he had affairs with and even gave us his CPU which Kevin is dissecting long distance as we speak."

"Additionally," Rossi continues, "she gave us the numbers for his daughters and Emily and I each called one, getting even more information. If we can figure out what hobbies and interests Bud Stevens had we can cross check the lists to see if something leaps out at us."

Reid stands and moves to his map. "I have mapped everything we know about the two victims. So far the only places they seem to cross is they both used the same utility companies. There is, however, an interesting number of times in their credit card histories that the same grocery store pops up. This is odd because it is not exactly in their neighborhoods. In fact, Stevens would have had to really go out of his way to use it."

"But he's a philanderer so it could be someone he is hitting on regardless of his health status," Emily points out.

"Heath status?" Hotch presses.

"He's HIV positive. Even passed it to his wife," she explains.

"Great," Hotch mutters. "If the press gets wind of that they'll turn his death into a vengeance situation."

Rossi shrugs. "Will keep them off our backs for a time. Might not be too bad a thing."

Hotch nods. "Maybe." He glances at his watch. "It's 6:30. How much longer do we push tonight?"

Emily stiffens. "If you want to call it a day go on. I started out in this time zone I can go longer."

"No one stays alone, Em. Not with that bastard out there hunting us as much as he's hunting others," JJ says.

"I don't need a babysitter!" Emily insists, getting angry.

"Prentiss, when we call it a night, we all go. No one stays behind. That's an order," Hotch states, his eyes daring her to defy him.

Brown eyes bore into brown eyes. The other three agents are silent as they watch this battle of wills. Emily picks up her pen.

"I'm not done. If you want to call it a night, go. I'm _not _leaving yet." She starts to study the information in front of her.

"Emily, the brass demanded you be removed from the case," Hotch says as Emily's head snaps up. The others are quiet, not having known this. "They feel to have to try to rescue a teammate so soon after saving all of us from Phillipe may make you crack under pressure. I went to bat for you; promised them you could handle the pressure and could follow orders. Don't make me have to eat those words."

They stare at each other. Just when JJ thinks her wife is going to lose her job, Emily caves. A little.

"Give me until 8. Please, Hotch."

Hotch stares at her a moment then nods. "8. No later. But you buy the next round of coffee."

Emily manages a smile. "Deal. Thanks, Hotch."

He nods and starts to weed through the information that had come from tips. Emily goes back to the report in front of her. JJ watches her a second before grabbing a folder off the table and starting on another financial report.


	10. Chapter 10

Morgan slowly lifts his head. His mind is still fuzzy from the drugs that had been pumped into him since he had made the mistake of opening his hotel room door. He is bound to a metal chair, cold and uncomfortable. A rag has been tied around his head, tightly gagging him. His jaw and lips ache from pull.

He slowly looks around the room he is in. It is an old warehouse, filled with the detritus of a business long since gone. He looks towards the filmy window, watching dust dance in the moonbeams that cut through the grime.

"_I am so totally fucked,_" he thinks to himself.

When the knock had come at his door he had looked through the peephole but all he could see was the tray. He tried to tell the waiter he had the wrong room but was answered in Spanish. Assuming safety in Phoenix, he had opened the door to explain to the man that he had the wrong room. He had seen the grin and realized in that split second that he had killed himself.

Morgan blinks back tears. "_NO! Stop it, Derek. Don't you fucking give up. Emily will call in the team, they'll see the security footage. They'll know. They'll understand. And they will find his ass. Hopefully I'll still be around to see it."_

"Ah, Derek, you're awake."

Morgan turns his head as The Puppet Master steps into his line of sight. The man known only to himself as Mitchell Reese smiles at his captive.

"You know, it was supposed to be Emily. Oh, the plans I had for her. I had to rewrite my script a little when I took you instead." He grins at the fire in Morgan's eyes. "Oh, yes, I see you cursing me, thanking God that it was you not her taken. Make no mistake, Derek, I'll have her, too. Some day. In some city. Even if she leaves the FBI in the wake of your death, I will have my time with Emily. With her slutty girlfriend, too. Tell me, Derek, ever join them in a threesome?"

Morgan starts to struggle against the chair holding him, cussing the man in front of him though the gag makes it a pointless exercise. Reese chuckles. He knows once the drugs fully leave Morgan's system he'll better hold his temper. He must have his fun now.

"Oh, I bet you do. May make me break my 'no sleeping with victims' rule and bed them both myself."

Morgan's veins pop out as he struggles against his bonds. Reese just chuckles. He pulls out a knife, twirling it in his hands. Morgan sees it and stills. Reese slowly walks towards his captive. He draws the blade down Morgan's cheek. The agent sits as still as possible. Reese just continues to smile as he slowly cuts the shirt from Morgan's body. When he is done, he strokes a hand down Morgan's cheek.

"There. Now you are ready for my pet."

Reese walks away. Morgan hears a door open behind him, followed by the sounds of two sets of footsteps approaching him.

"Agent Derek Morgan, meet Gloria Steward, my humble servant."

Morgan's eyes widen. It does make sense: the use of candles, clean kills, markers of a female killer. Reese grins as he sees the light shine in the dark man's eyes.

"Gloria, this is the man I told you about. He is the one that helps those men who we must stop. He is the one that aids them in their attempts to hurt women. He hates women and he teaches men how to hurt them in ways that make them suffer long after their initial torture ends."

"Can I kill him now? Can I stop them all by killing him?" she asks eagerly, her eyes wide with hope.

Reese smiles. "Not yet. First we must stop his other helpers. One…one is a woman who will probably come to us."

"Fucking BITCH!"

"Yes, yes she is. Her name is Emily Prentiss. I'll show her to you soon. But she must not die yet. She and this one must be reunited first. It is the only way to truly end their power."

Her fists clench and unclench. "And kill them we will, Master. When the time is right we will slay them both!"

"Yes, Gloria, we will. But first, let him know what happens to his servants. Show him what they must face before they die."

Gloria smiles, her eyes now bloodthirsty. "Yes, Master. I will show him how we use the Club of Righteousness to break his evil spell."

If Morgan had any spit left in his mouth he would have swallowed nervously. As it is he can only watch as Gloria walks to a table in the corner and lifts up a 4' length of 2"x2". One end has been carved down into a handle which is wrapped with batting tape. The weapon actually resembles an oversize cricket bat.

As she gets closer, the agent sees the woman is muttering to herself. Reese smiles and whispers to Morgan.

"She is asking for the strength to teach you the errors of your ways."

Morgan sneers at the man, who steps out of the way, chuckling. Gloria stands to Morgan's right, taking up a batting stance. She glares at him.

"Today we begin the end of your reign of terror."

She swings. Through his gag Morgan screams, the pain more than he had even expected as the wood cracks across his kneecaps. Five more blows to his shins follow. He hates the tears that leak down his cheeks and the screams that rip from his throat.

Gloria then takes a step to her left, raising the club above her head and raining 5 blows down upon his thighs. She then steps back and looks at Reese.

"Is that enough for now, Master?"

Reese smiles, soaking in all of Morgan's pain. "Yes, my pet. For now."

Gloria walks back to the table, once again muttering at the bat. Reese smiles at Morgan.

"She is now thanking the goddess, whatever that is, for helping her with this first lesson. I am thanking God that your cell phone takes video."

Morgan slowly looks up, for the first time noticing that the man is holding his phone. Hope flares in him. It if is on, Garcia can track it. Reese sees the glint of hope.

"Don't get so happy. One, it's on airplane mode. Two, to be safe I turned off the GPS. And three, this old building is lined with lead. No one will know it exists until it arrives at the police station tomorrow."

He powers the phone down, chuckling as the hope dies out of Morgan's eyes.

"Have a good evening, Derek. We'll see you in the morning for your next lesson."

Morgan's head drops back on the chair as his captor and tormentor leave.

_"Please, guys…please find me soon. Please. And, God, Emily…be fucking careful!"_


	11. Chapter 11

Emily is staring at herself in the bathroom mirror as JJ walks up and wraps her arms around her waist.

"He'll be okay, Em."

"You don't know that, Jen," she responds irritably.

JJ spins her wife around, fury on her face. "I don't know about you but I'm not giving up on Derek. If you are get your ass on a plane home because we don't need your negativity clouding this case."

JJ turns and storms out of the bathroom. Emily wraps her arms around herself, staring at the ceiling. Part of her wants to go to JJ; tell her that she's not giving up. But the largest part of her is scared for Derek and kicking herself for not being the one in trouble. She quickly strips down and gets in the shower, hoping the warm water will wash away her emotional distress and help her clear her head.

She stays in there for 20 minutes but her mind is still as fuzzy as when she went in. When she gets out she heads right to her suitcase, not sure what to say to her wife. Once she's in her sleep shorts and Pitt Soccer tee shirt she turns…and sees the salad on the desk.

"Uh, what's that?"

JJ looks up from her book. "You haven't eaten since breakfast and you threw most of that up on the plane."

"I had- -"

"Half a slice of pizza at 6. Stop arguing and eat the salad, Emily," JJ says emotionlessly.

"You ordered room service?" Emily asks reproachfully.

"Rossi waited with me," JJ answers, understanding the scolding.

"Oh." Emily stares at her wife a minute before dropping down in the desk chair. "Thank you, Jennifer," she says quietly.

JJ just nods. As she eats, Emily watches the blonde. JJ is only pretending to read as she never once turns the page before Emily finishes the salad and bottle of water her wife had ordered for her. When she finishes, Emily stands and moves to her wife's side, lifting the book from her hands. JJ refuses to look at the brunette. The anger in her eyes stings Emily's heart.

"I'm not giving up on him or us. I just…I'm scared, Jen. Last time I was this scared it was all of you and it took everything I had to find you. I keep thinking…what if…what if there's not enough luck left? What if I used all my prayers and deals with God to find all of you?" Emily pinches the bridge of her nose. "Add in the fact that we know he wanted me first and…and my head is…shit…"

JJ sits up and grabs her wife's hands. "Screw the fact that he wanted you first. So. Fucking. What. He screwed up once and didn't get you. He'll screw up again. We know all about the fucking Puppet Master except who exactly he is. And we are learning more about his victims this time because we _know_ it's him. The last two times we didn't know until too late. This time…this time we know it's him and we'll find him. He's made a mistake, Emily. They all do. His mistake was revealing himself the way he did. We'll find him, Emily. Trust that!"

Emily stares into confident blue eyes. "Keep telling me that?"

JJ nods. "Any fucking time you need me to."

Emily studies her wife's face a moment…then grabs her head and pulls her into a deep, passionate kiss. When it ends, Emily locks eyes with her wife.

"He'll never touch you, Jennifer. I don't care if I lose my badge or my freedom, he will _never_ touch you."

"Emily, don't- -"

Emily stops her soul mate's argument with another kiss. When it ends Jennifer tries to argue again but Emily kisses her once more, this time running her hand up under her wife's shirt. As she kneads perfect breasts, she swallows the moan from the blue-eyed beauty.

Emily breaks the kiss long enough to rip her tee shirt off. JJ does the same. Emily's mouth immediately moves to her wife's breasts.

"Oh, Em!" JJ gasps, her hands filling with her wife's breasts.

After a few minutes of deep kisses and chest massages, Emily leaps up. She shoves her sleep shorts down and pulls JJ's sleep pants off. She climbs back onto her wife, straddling a firm thigh so that they can grind against each other. Soon it is not enough, Emily settles completely between her wife's legs, her center thrusting hard against the wet mound that rises up to meet her.

Their tongues are still tangling, still driving their lust. Emily slides a hand down to JJ's ass, using it to help lift her up to meet the hard thrusts.

The kiss ends when they have to breathe. As she does, JJ begs.

"Please…Em…more…please…"

Emily's mouth latches onto a hard nipple as her hand moves from JJ's back to her front. Two fingers immediately push in. JJ jumps, a hard thrust meeting the penetration.

"OH! Yes, Em! Yes!"

Emily uses her hips to drive her hand harder, deeper while her mouth sucks and nips at JJ's perky chest. She is now using four fingers to pleasure her wife. JJ wraps her legs around Emily's hips, helping drive her wife into her. Readying her wife for the final penetration, Emily lifts her head. Her brown eyes are dusky with desire and ownership.

"Mine," she says as her entire hand enters her wife.

"YES! Oh, EM! YES!"

Emily drives her fist in hard and deep, spinning it, uncurling her fingers to reach for the sensitive nerves inside her wife. JJ can no longer speak. She just grunts as she meets each thrust, her back arching, her body reveling in the ecstasy only Emily can bring. Finally she stiffens, her body tight as Emily drives in a few more times. JJ's body starts to convulse.

"YES! YES! YESSSSSSS!"

After a few seconds her body falls limply back to the mattress. Emily quickly throws a leg over JJ's thigh and rides it to her own release.

"JEN! LOVE! YOU!"

JJ comes again as she feels her wife spill her essence down her rock hard thigh. Emily collapses down on her wife. Both women pant, trying to catch their breath. Emily eventually eases to the side, lifting her head to look into JJ's eyes.

"I love you, Jen. I will do my best to protect us both."

JJ brings a hand to Emily's cheek. "And I promise you the same. I love you, too, Emily. Are you going to be able to sleep now?"

Emily smiles. "Can't hide anything from you, can I?"

JJ shakes her head. "Nope. Please try to rest. For Derek."

Emily kisses her wife once more. "For Derek. And for you. I promise."

Emily reaches down and pulls the comforter and blankets up over them. Normally they do not sleep nude while on a case but tonight…tonight they needed to be as close as possible to each other, drawing strength and comfort from the intimacy. JJ reaches over and turns off the light. Emily nuzzles into her neck.

"I love you so much, Jen."

JJ cuddles closer. "I love you, too, Emily. Goodnight, baby."

"Night, sweetheart."

Surprisingly, they do sleep and are not plagued by nightmares, something both had expected. Perhaps love really does conquer all.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning the team is back at work by 7 a.m. Extended financials of the two victims have been delivered by Garcia so Emily and Reid get at them. These include the victims, their immediate family members and even their places of employment. Hotch decides not to ask how that last set was attained.

JJ and Rossi are planning to go interview the employers later that morning before following up with friends in the afternoon. They are combing through the data provided by immediate family members during the original police questions. In the case of Warren Dales they are including information Rossi and Emily had found out from his wife and daughters. First up they are hoping to speak with the parents and in-laws of Bud Stevens but know it will be a hard talk to have considering his wife's suicide. JJ shakes her head.

"Those poor kids. They lost their father to a killer and their mother to her grief and mental illness."

Emily's head shoots up. "Her mental illness…" she repeats, her mind reaching for a thread but it's just too far away to grab.

Rossi studies her. "Whatcha thinking, kid?"

"Something…something is…" she shakes her head. "It will come to me."

Emily goes back to the paperwork in front of her. This is the financial history for Cynthia Dales. She gets to the section on her medical bills and her eyes widen.

"That's it!" She looks up. "Reid, Philemon!"

Rossi raises an eyebrow. "Bible passages, Prentiss?"

Emily ignores Rossi as she sees Reid running through the information in his eidetic memory. Finally the genius sees it, too. He leaps up and races to a blank spot on the chalkboard they are using.

"RIGHT! Philemon!" he agrees, writing it down.

JJ rolls her eyes and sits back in her chair, recognizing an EmiReid conversation blossoming. "Oh for fucks sake," she mutters.

Emily and Reid ignore her. Rossi and Hotch grin.

"Marie Stevens," Emily says.

"Both the Dales," Reid agrees.

"Shrink, too?"

Reid nods. "Yes."

"Bet they have a cleaning service."

"Easy cover for The Puppet Master."

"Definitely." Reid grabs the phone and hits the redial, which takes him to…

"Oracle of Quantico and her faithful man-slave, how may we dazzle you today?" Garcia answers.

"Garcia, we need the name of the cleaning service for Philemon Medical Associates and there's a chance The Puppet Master worked there," he tells her.

"It will be a fake i.d., Pen, so make sure to just look at employees hired since he went after JJ in Detroit," Emily adds.

No one mentions the slip of calling her wife JJ but all notice it.

"Got it. Give me 5," Garcia says excitedly as she hangs up.

JJ sits forward. "Okay, fill the rest of us in, nerdlings."

Emily lifts the financial report she's holding. "Marie Stevens was seeing a doctor at Philemon Medical Associates for her depression."

"Both Cynthia and Warren Dales were seeing a doctor there for their HIV status. Warren Dales even saw a psychiatrist associated with the practice."

"What better way to find his targets than by using his cover as a janitor at a medical center?" Emily concludes.

Hotch slowly nods. "Good idea. But how did he work here, too."

Emily shrugs. "Either different shifts, different days or he worked at Philemon first. How long did he work here? Do we know?"

Hotch shrugs. "Never thought to ask."

Rossi sits forward. "Let's think about this a second. Forget The Puppet Master, let's think about the puppet. These kills are clean, the abuse is done with a board versus hands, and the final kill is done with, we're assuming, a bag over the head."

JJ nods, seeing where Rossi is going. "The killer, the puppet, is a woman."

Everyone mulls that a moment but they finally agree with that assessment. Hotch leans on the table.

"Okay, his puppet this time is a woman. Who is she and how did he find her?"

Emily taps the table. "The medical practice. He'd have been able to find the right woman to turn into his weapon. She's malleable for some reason and he exploited that."

"And any information he needed to find his weapon and his victims was in the practice computers. He hacked what he needed," JJ states.

Hotch nods. "When Garcia calls back I'll get her to…um…investigate their system. If it pans out the way we think we'll start the official route to getting the information. For now I don't want to tip our hands." He takes a deep breath. "If anyone ever makes waves about anything Garcia does during this investigation I will say it was by my order. She won't be at risk over this. Understood?"

Everyone nods, realizing he's ready to sacrifice his career to save Morgan, stop The Puppet Master and protect their analyst. They would do their damnedest to make sure that sacrifice is not needed.

Emily goes out to find Flick to see just how long The Puppet Master had worked at the police station. While she is gone, Garcia calls back.

"The medical practice uses a company called Office Doctors for their cleaning service. They go in 5 days a week. Four of those days it's just one person to do basic clean up work. But on Wednesdays they have a crew of 4 go in to do a major cleaning. All the visits are at night, usually from 9-midnight. Additionally, their hazardous materials are picked up every Thursday by Medical Waste Management but that is done during the day and the pick up has to be signed for," she reports.

"Well done as always, Garcia," Hotch notes. "The employees?"

"Two at Office Doctors since you all were in Detroit. Three at Medical Waste. Their information is in your PDA."

"Good." Hotch thinks a minute, wording his next statement carefully. "You know, Garcia, if we are right that The Puppet Master accessed the computers at Philemon Medical he may have left a trace of what he did; what he looked at. But if we go to them and ask we could accidentally tip our hands."

"That would be terrible, sir," Garcia says.

"If someone were to, say, accidentally peek into their system I would have their back," he tells her.

"Good to know, sir. Should…_someone_…find something there I am sure they could let you know so you can find it officially."

He grins. "Then that someone would surely deserve a Hotchlate chip cookie."

Garcia giggles. "I'll have my…I mean, I will tell them to have a glass of milk ready, sir. Oracle out."

The gathered agents laugh as Garcia hangs up. Hotch takes a deep breath. "Rossi, JJ, go finish up your interviews. If we can do anything with Philemon today I'll call you so we can all meet there."

Rossi and JJ nod. As they stand to leave, Hotch places a hand on JJ's shoulder.

"About her slip up…"

JJ shrugs it off. "She has to compartmentalize during the day. I get it. She's good, Hotch. I promise."

Hotch nods. A few minutes after JJ and Rossi leave, Emily walks back in. "He only started working here 2 months ago. He hasn't shown up since Morgan made the appointment to come meet Flick."

Hotch nods. "Getting established before the killings started. Smart move. And now disappearing."

"Yeah. Look, on the off chance this is wrong, I'm going to get back to the financials."

"Good idea. How much longer do you need?"

"Maybe an hour. Why?"

"Hopefully by then Garcia will be back to us with the information on the medical practice. Until then, I'll be looking into the two new employees of the cleaning service. We'll visit them to see if they recognize The Puppet Master's picture. If they do we can go by the medical practice and see if they recognize the unsub or have an idea of who he may have manipulated to be his new weapon."

Emily nods. "Good plan."

She turns her attention back to the information in front of her as Hotch starts to look into the new employees of the cleaning service. Unfortunately their background checks are not digitized so there is no way to confirm which of the two is their unsub, if either.

Then Hotch reads the name of one and rolls his eyes. "That son of a bitch," he mutters.

* * *

JJ shows her credentials to a mid-60's woman who answers the door. "Mrs. Woodward? My name is Agent Jennifer Jareau, this is Agent David Rossi. We're with the FBI and we hope to speak with you about your daughter Marie Stevens."

The woman crosses her arms across her chest. "She's dead. And the man that did it to her is dead, too. That's the only surprise about this whole damn thing," she says harshly.

JJ nods. It is obvious that at this point they are not going to be invited into the house. "I see. So Marie and Bud were having problems?"

The woman grunts. "Hmph. Nothing but problems from Day 1. That bastard wanted to control her, change her, fix her. He cut us off from her; convinced her we were the reason for her depression."

"And were you?" Rossi asks bluntly.

The woman's hands drop, her fists clenching. "NO! We gave her discipline and direction! Sure she had her…sad days but I told her just to suck it up and deal. Everyone has a bad day and she's no better than anyone else. That controlling bastard she was married to convinced her to get on drugs. How the hell could he love her if he did that?"

JJ frowns. "By drugs do you mean her anti-depressants?"

"YES! Pharmaceutical bullshit! She just needed to be happy naturally," the woman insists.

In her mind, JJ worries about the children left behind. This woman had no compassion to be this angry about the medicines that were helping her daughter instead of the man that had killed her son-in-law. The children were sure to need professional help. Would this woman bother?

"Mrs. Woodward, your daughter was clinically depressed. Do you understand what that means?" JJ asks.

The woman reaches for the door. "It means she listened to everyone but me. That damn husband of hers was a control freak. She was fine before him. I need to be with my grandkids. Goodbye, Detectives."

She shuts the door in their faces. JJ looks at Rossi.

"Uh, did I screw that up?"

He shakes his head. "No, kid. She has her own ideas of what happened and nothing we said was going to change that."

JJ sighs in relief. "At least we know one thing for sure." She looks back at Rossi. "Bud Stevens was the one getting her help."

Rossi nods. "True. What does that mean?"

"It means we have two victims who were instrumental in their wives' medical issues. That could be the connect."

Rossi's eyes widen. "Damn. Good deduction, JJ. I'd missed it."

JJ sighs as they start back toward their SUV. "I guess my mind is on the way a spouse can affect your life."

Rossi nods. "Understandable. Emily's slip up this morning…"

"It hurt, I'm not going to lie. But she warned me she'd be compartmentalizing to protect herself." She fakes a smile and shrugs. "I'll kick her butt when we get Morgan back and stop the fucking unsubs."

Rossi chuckles. "I can believe that." He takes a deep breath. "With the way he's killing his next victim could be taken tonight."

JJ stops walking as it hits her what Rossi is hinting at. "Do you think he'll…oh, God, he will…he'll make Morgan watch the man die."

Rossi nods. "He wants us to be his audience, not only as investigators but as, in his mind, co-conspirators. Morgan will be part of the killing, part of the ritual. If he can't save the next victim it will tear him apart inside."

"And there's no way in hell the unsub will give Morgan a chance to save the victim," JJ whispers, her heart breaking for her friend. "God, Dave, it will…will more than tear him apart."

Rossi pats her on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go see Bud Stevens' parents."

JJ just nods and gets into the SUV. She takes a couple of deep breaths trying to turn her mind from Morgan to the couple they were going to meet next.

* * *

Isabel Stevens gestures to her couch as she takes the armchair in her living room. Rossi and JJ sit down.

"Is there any chance I can get the children from that woman?" she asks.

JJ and Rossi exchange a look. "Uh, actually that's not really something we have control of," JJ explains. "We were actually hoping to find out more about the relationship between your son and daughter; something that could point us in a direction to investigate."

Isabel clenches the handkerchief in her hand. "Oh. I see. Um, well, he worshipped the ground Marie walked on almost from the time he met her. He was…quite a bit older than her but he had married once when he was young. Swore he'd never do that again. Then he met Marie. She had…issues. He wanted to help her. I thought he was crazy; that he was just setting himself up for heartaches and headaches." She smiles, glancing at a family portrait on an end table. "He ignored me. They married. Had two children. During that whole time he made sure she sought help for her manic depressive states. Never once did he make her feel rotten for having the chemical imbalances that could switch her moods faster than changing a TV channel."

JJ nods. "That's great. What did her parents think about it?"

Isabel sneers. "Her father doesn't speak much. Been beaten down by that harpy of a wife. That woman kept telling Marie to stop the pills, stop seeing the shrink and just deal with life. She didn't want to understand that there was more to Marie's issues than just changing her own lot. I think…no, I _know_, that Bud is the reason Marie was able to maintain control of her life. Losing him must have been…oh, it must have just been too much for her to handle." She points a finger at the agents. "That man murdered my son and my daughter-in-law. He may as well have shoved the pills down Marie's throat himself. You find that bastard that killed them, Agents. You find him and make him pay."

Rossi sits forward. "We will do our best, Mrs. Stevens. You have our word," he vows.

Rossi and JJ get out to the SUV. They sit for a moment, pondering what they had learned so far that morning. JJ suddenly sits up straight.

"It's an avenging angel!"

Rossi glances at her, intrigued. "What?"

"Both of these men somehow…controlled their wives heath. Stevens made his wife get help for her manic depression. I bet that's in all her medical files. And, well, we both know Warren Dales has sentenced his wife to a terrifying, incurable disease." JJ looks at Rossi. "The puppet is being made to believe she is avenging the women. Think about the candles: nullification of ego."

Rossi nods. "And what greater ego boost could there be than holding someone's life in your hand. Call Hotch. No, better yet, call Garcia. See if she's still…accidently accessing things at the medical practice. Maybe she can figure out a way to predict our next potential victim."

JJ nods and makes the call. She and Rossi together help Garcia put together the search that could help them find the next person on the unsubs hit list. As JJ turns off her phone she lets out a breath in prayer.

"Please let this take us somewhere. Soon."

* * *

On their way to the cleaning service, Emily lets out a breath.

"What?"

Hotch glances at her. "Excuse me?"

"Hotch, you've been on my ass since I started at the unit. I know when you're studying me, trying to figure out a way to say something to me. So just say it. What the hell did I do wrong?"

Hotch manages a grin. "You called your wife JJ."

Emily frowns, trying to remember that slip. "Uh, when?"

"This morning. You told Garcia to check on employees that started- -"

"- -after the bastard went after JJ in Detroit," Emily finishes, now remembering. "Shit. I…I didn't know. Fuck."

"Emily, you seemed okay at breakfast. But the longer this morning has gone on the more tense you're getting. I ask this as a friend who doesn't want to see you hurt, physically or in your career: should you be on this case?"

Emily bites her lip, staring out the passenger side window. "I can't be anywhere else," she answers honestly. "If I lose my badge so be it. I don't care as long as I help bring Derek home first. And as long as I help stop The Puppet Master so he can never come after any of us again." She turns her head to look at Hotch. "Don't send me away, Hotch. Please."

"As long as you don't give me reason to, Emily, I won't. You have my word."

Emily nods. "Thank you. I'll try not to compartmentalize so much." She sighs. "Shit. Jen's going to kick my ass."

Hotch grins. "Most likely."

"What? No offer to protect me?" she jokes.

"Did I mention the way your wife flipped me back on Phillipe's island? Sorry, Prentiss, she's all yours."

Emily chuckles. "Gee. Thanks, sir."

Ten minutes later Hotch is showing the picture of the man unknown to them as Mitchell Reese to the office manager at the cleaning service. "Do you recognize this man?"

The woman nods. "Sure. That's Aaron Hotchner. He worked her for about, oh, 2 or 3 months back in the summer. Late summer, early fall actually."

Emily is staring at the woman incredulously. Hotch had introduced himself. Was she not even listening? Emily slams her hands down on the desk.

"Look, I'm sorry if murder is just too mundane for you to care about but think about the fact that you just identified that man" she stabs at the picture with her finger, "by that man's name!" she points at Hotch.

The woman's eyes are wide with fright. Hotch places a hand on Emily's shoulder and eases her back from the desk. Hotch looks back at the office manager.

"We need to see his files. And before you go on about a warrant if we need that we'll shut you down and comb through all your files one by one to see what other people may be working with you under false identities. Your choice," he states with a tone of voice that insists there really is no choice at all.

The woman nods hurriedly and goes to her files. Hotch eases up to Emily's ear.

"Calm. Down."

Emily nods, her hands shoved in her pockets. "Right. Sorry. Just…the idiocy that would normally make me laugh just…hit me wrong."

"I get it. But don't let it happen again."

"Yes, sir," she agrees.

The woman comes back and hands a folder to Hotch. "You can make copies of anything in there. We do full background checks on our employees."

Hotch glances at the paperwork. This "Aaron Hotchner" had put down that he was a janitor in Minneapolis. Hotch frowns.

"The easiest lies to tell are the ones steeped in truth," he mumbles. He pulls out his phone. "Garcia, I need you to track a phone number and then run the search program on this unsub in Minneapolis. Go back 10 years." He reads off the phone number.

"On it, sir."

He hangs up. He hands the folder to Emily. "Make the copies while I ask a few more questions."

Emily nods, understanding that he is doing this to keep her from having another outburst. As she walks away, Hotch turns back to the office manager.

"Do you know why he quit?"

"Gave us two weeks notice when he was offered a better position at the police station. Hated to see him go because he was such a good worker and everyone he worked with liked him. But can't blame a man for wanting to better himself."

Hotch nods. "Of course not." He hands her a card. "If he calls or contacts you in any way, please call me immediately. One last question…how did he get his last check? Was it mailed to him?"

"No, he came by and picked it up." She smiles. "Even brought me flowers. Look, Agent…uh…Hotchner, I just can't believe Aaron did anything bad. I'm sure there's been some sort of mistake. Some sort of…weird coincidence that he shares your name."

Hotch shakes his head. "No coincidence." He taps the card. "Call me if he contacts you."

Emily walks over and hands the folder back to the woman. "Thank you."

The woman nods as the two agents leave. As they get into the SUV, Garcia calls Hotch back.

"Sir, the phone number was to a disposable phone bought in Minneapolis 3 years ago. It doesn't look like it was used until last August when two calls were placed to it."

Hotch nods. "He used it as his reference phone. The cleaning company called him without knowing it."

"But if he bought it so long ago…" her voice trails off. "Damn, he's probably bought phones all over the country. Then he uses one to get a job and then dumps it."

Hotch grins. "Spoken like a profiler, Garcia."

Garcia smiles. "Nope. No way. That's all you, sir. I'm back to my computers. Garcia out."

* * *

Based on when the disposable phone was purchased, Garcia narrows down her search for unusual, unsolved murders in Minneapolis. She finally gets a hit on 5 murders tied together and another that was close but assigned to a copy cat due to a difference in the final way the victim died: manual strangulation.

Garcia pops over to another computer and loads up the autopsy report from the media spokeswoman in Lancaster. She scans it until she finds the measurements of the hands that had choked the woman.

"YES!" she screams, scaring the crap out of Kevin, who is nearby working on a different search.

"Uh, cupcake? A little warning before screaming next time," he pleads.

Garcia ignores him and grabs her phone, calling Hotch back. "HOTCH! I was able to connect a string of killings in Minneapolis that occurred when the phone was bought directly to the death of Sonia Rickey. Same size hands killed what Minneapolis police deemed a copy cat victim as killed Rickey."

"Damn good work, Garcia! Archive those killings in your files for The Puppet Master. We'll make sure the bastard stands for those, too."

"Yes, sir!"

Hotch hangs up and tells Prentiss what Garcia has found. Emily nods her head. "Good. Now if we can just catch him and not let him slither away this time."

Hotch glances at her. "Prentiss, I am- -"

"Hotch, right now, please don't offer up platitudes or words of comfort. I just…can't take it right now."

Hotch nods. He had talked to JJ that morning and she had said her wife was back on even keel. Either Emily had been able to hide her emotional upheaval from her own wife or she had just been getting worse as the day went on.

"We will find Morgan, Emily. There is no other option," Hotch states definitively.

Emily slowly turns and looks at him. "You hope we do. Don't make promises to me or yourself you have no way of keeping."

There is a hardness in her eyes Hotch has never seen before. Not even when JJ had been in danger. It's because this time The Puppet Master had struck directly at them. He had made them all victims. Truth is none of them should be on this case. They are too close to it. But there was no way they were going to relinquish it to another team. No fucking way.

Hotch gets a text a couple of minutes later. He pulls into a parking lot when he sees it's from Garcia. He smiles.

"She found where the medical practice computers were hacked." He stares out the windshield a moment, putting himself back in his lawyer shoes. "There is no way we can get a warrant on just 2 people linked to the practice."

"Technically 4 if you count spouses," Emily points out hopefully.

Hotch shakes his head. "Won't work. And if his puppet works there instead of just being a patient we tip our hand. Damn it."

He drums his fingers against the steering wheel. Emily takes a deep breath.

"As much as I hate to say this, let's wait to go there. Let Garcia do her magic. You know she found the hack which means she's now looking for what he saw in there, what he manipulated. Let her do her thing to find Morgan."

Hotch nods. "Alright. We'll give her until we call it a day. Then we approach the doctor's office and see if anyone recognizes our unsub."

* * *

Hotch calls Rossi and finds out where those two are in their interviews. He and Emily take over the questioning of the Warren Dales' employer and his closest friends. Turns out he didn't have many left as most had abandoned him when his philandering ways and his infection of his wife had become known.

By 5:30 p.m. all 5 agents on the case are back at the police station. Based on the questions they had been asking all day they are now convinced the medical practice is the only place these two victims could have overlapped. Hotch crosses his hands in front of him.

"Tomorrow JJ and I will go to the medical practice. We'll discuss the situation with the office manager and the head doctor. Hopefully if they can't open their files to us they can at least be on alert for the unsub and another potential victim."

"What if they shut us down completely?" JJ asks.

Hotch takes a deep breath. "Garcia and Kevin developed a Trojan virus and sent it to the practice. I spoke with Kevin 20 minutes ago and it was activated. It's using an algorithm code to try to find women whose husbands are the ones that caused or encouraged their medical care. It will run through the night and should give us a- -"

He breaks off as Detective Flick walks into the room without knocking. "Hate to interrupt but we have another man missing."

"Son of a bitch," Emily blurts, her blood running cold.

Flick glances down at the paper in front of him. "42 year old businessman Raul Hernandez, was supposed to meet his family at his son's baseball game but didn't show. Wife at first thought he'd just forgotten but calls to his office show he left on time. Car has a lojack and was discovered at the local mall. His phone was inside, as was his briefcase containing his laptop."

JJ leans onto the table. "We need to find out if his wife was under any sort of medical care and we need to know soon."

Flick nods and hurries out of the room. Hotch grabs his phone, knowing there is a quicker way.

"Garcia, Raul Hernandez was kidnapped. Was his wife a patient at the clinic?"

Garcia starts to type furiously. "Come on…come on…come on…YES! She was seeking treatment for injuries sustained during a car accident. Husband was texting and ran a stop sign."

"And there's the reason he's taken!" Emily exclaims. "He caused her accident!"

JJ frowns. "I'm confused. Yes, Hernandez and Dales caused their wife issues. But by most accounts, Stevens was actually helping his wife. Why was he targeted?"

"If her mother ever made a statement that got into her records or if she was overheard by the unsub or the puppet they may have believed Stevens was actually hurting Marie, not helping her," Reid points out.

JJ nods. "True. And we won't know that until we see the full records at the medical facility."

Hotch stands. "Emily, you're with me. Let's go talk to the wife of the missing man. We need to know everything we can about that clinic."

Emily nods and follows him out. She looks to her wife. "JJ, get with the cops at the mall and see if the other cars are there, too. Maybe they've all been dumped there."

JJ is glaring at her wife. Emily frowns, trying to figure out what she's done. She reviews her order in her head and pales.

"Shit…Jen…I'm…I'm sorry…I just…"

"Go. We'll discuss it later, Emily," JJ says stiffly.

Emily just nods and follows Hotch out. Rossi looks at the blonde.

"She did warn you she'd be compartmentalizing everything."

"Yeah, she did. But we, uh, talked last night. Thought her head was better."

Rossi chuckles. "Well, sometimes 'talking' like you probably did just temporarily fogs the brain."

JJ blushes. "Right. Still, she's going to do something wrong if she's not careful. That's why Hotch is making her work with him."

"Exactly. He'll watch her and he'll protect her, JJ. Trust that," Reid points out.

JJ just nods and goes out to find out who she needs to call at the scene of the car retrieval to get the parking lot checked for the other as yet still missing vehicles.


	13. Chapter 13

Morgan sputters awake as cold water is splashed over him. He shakes his head to clear the water from his face and the cobwebs from his mind. The first thing he sees is the shirtless man tied to a chair in front of him.

_"No. No. No. NO!_" Morgan pleads silently.

"Good evening, Derek. So nice of you to join us for Raul's trial and execution," Reese says sweetly, his voice belying the horror that is to come.

"Madre de Dios! Por favor, let me go!" Raul begs, English and Spanish mixing due to his fear.

Reese smiles at Morgan. "What do you think, Derek? Should we let him go?"

"YES!" Morgan tries to scream around his gag but it's barely a grunt due to how dry his mouth is.

Reese shrugs. "Oh, dear, I have no idea what you're saying. You really must learn to enunciate. Since you can't speak clearly, we'll just have to go back to our original plans."

Morgan closes his eyes and shakes his head, not wanting to witness what will happen next. He is slapped across the face. When he opens his eyes Reese is right in his face.

"You will WATCH, Derek. You will bear witness to his trial. Or I will fetch that bitch Emily and she will go on trial next. Is that understood?" he asks viciously.

Morgan nods, his eyes burning holes in Reese. The killer just smiles. "Good boy. Might have to figure out a reward for you."

As Reese steps back Morgan sees Gloria walking towards the man named Raul. She is holding the board and once again muttering under her breath. Reese smiles at her from behind Morgan, laying his hand on the agent's shoulders like a father might a son.

"Your prayers are once again heard, Gloria. The goddess has spoken and you can proceed."

Gloria nods. "Thank you, Master." She turns to the man. "Confess your sin, Raul. Confess and be saved. Deny your sins and feel the hand of the goddess punish you for your transgressions."

Raul is crying uncontrollably. "I…I don't know. I swear I don't know."

Gloria swings, slamming the specially made club across the tops of both of the man's kneecaps. The man's scream makes Morgan shiver and Reese chuckle.

Gloria slightly changes her stance. "Confess, Raul. The goddess is ready to hear you."

"No se! No se!" he whimpers in Spanish, telling her he doesn't know.

Gloria swings again, bringing the club down 5 times in rapid succession on the man's thighs. Every hit is accompanied by a howl of pain. His screams echo throughout the building, telling Morgan they must be far from anywhere someone could hear them. Not good.

"Raul Hernandez, you know your guilt. Just admit it," Gloria encourages him.

"Dios, me ahorro. God, save me. Please. Please," he moans. "I am innocent. Inocente!"

Gloria shakes her head. "You are far from innocent, Raul."

She brings the club across his shins 5 times but still the man cannot admit his guilt. Reese is studying his captive and can see the signs that show he will pass out soon. Raul is not as strong as Stevens but is doing better than Dales. Still, Reese doesn't want the fun to end too soon. The longer it lasts, the more it hurts Morgan.

"Gloria," he says simply.

The woman nods and takes three steps away from the man she is beating. She bows her head and starts to mumble prayers. Reese starts to massage Morgan's shoulders.

"He's a weak man, isn't he, Derek. How long until he just gives up on life? Maybe an hour? Two at the most?" He next addresses the crying man. "How long do you think, Raul? How long can you stand the pain? If you just admit your guilt you die quicker. Your choice really."

"I…I don't know…what you want…from me," Raul sobs.

"Yes, you do. We want you to admit your guilt. Is that so hard to understand?"

Raul just sobs. Reese shakes his head sadly.

"Gloria. Continue."

Raul lets out a wail as Gloria steps forward again. "Admit your guilt."

"No…se. I don't…know."

She slams the club across his kneecaps twice. The man tenses so much Morgan is sure a wooden chair would have splintered. The metal chair he is in just scoots along the floor. It is then Morgan notices the deep gouges in the floor. Obviously the first 2 victims had also tried to push away from the woman wielding the club.

"Admit your GUILT!" Gloria screams.

Raul can only shake his head, his body wracked with pain. The board comes down 10 times across his thighs. Morgan guesses the pattern. Each time the hits would probably be doubled. No wonder the autopsy showed such severe beating on the legs and stress on the body. The two killers were monsters.

_"Please, God, have the team close. Have them here soon. Please, God,_" Morgan prays. He wants to close his eyes but is worried it would bring down additional torture on Raul.

"ADMIT YOUR GUILT!" Gloria yells again.

Raul's head has dropped but he still howls when his shins are beaten 10 times. Once again, Reese stops Gloria to give Raul time to recover.

After 2 hours it is obvious they are not going to get any admission of guilt out of Raul. He hangs limply in the chair. Reese pats Morgan on the shoulder.

"Pity. If only you had helped him, Derek. But no, you just sat here and did nothing. Pathetic really."

Morgan struggles against the ropes holding him, wanting to pound the man into the ground. Reese just chuckles.

"Gloria, send him to the goddess."

Gloria nods. "Yes, Master."

She walks back to the table, praying over her club. She then picks up a clear plastic bag. Saying more prayers she approaches the unconscious man and places it over his head, pulling it tightly around his neck. It doesn't take long until Morgan sees Raul's weakened body shudder. There are two panicked gasps and then the man goes completely slack. Gloria places her fingers at the carotid artery.

"He is gone, Master."

Reese smiles. "Well done, Gloria. Get the van."

Gloria removes the bag from Raul's head and puts it over on the table. As soon as she leaves, Reese walks over and lifts up the club. He smiles as he walks back to Morgan. Without a word he beats Morgan's legs, alternating between knees, thighs and shins in no particular pattern. By the time he is done, Morgan just hangs in the chair.

"Three down, 4 to go before my true target. I'm not sure you'll still be with me, Derek. Which of your friends will find your body? And which will take your place in that chair? Flagstaff is quickly becoming my favorite city ever."

He has just put the board back on the table when Gloria drives the old panel van into the warehouse. They load up Raul and drive towards Thorpe Park to get rid of the body.

When Morgan comes to he can only sit in the chair crying. He knows he's going to die here. And he knows more men like Raul will die unless his team gets lucky this time. Twice before The Puppet Master had beaten them. Will this be the third time?


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Emily will be having a long talk in Spanish with Esperanza Hernandez. Rather than go crazy with translations, that conversation will appear in italics.**

* * *

Hotch, Emily and Flick sit down across from Esperanza Hernandez. The distraught woman clutches the hand of her mother, who just pats it, whispering words of comfort.

"Thank you for meeting with us," Hotch says.

"De nada," Esperanza answers.

At the slip straight into Spanish, Hotch looks to Emily who takes the lead.

"_Mrs. Hernandez, we know you are scared but we have to ask a few questions about your husband and the accident you two had a few months ago."_ The woman just nods. "_Thank you. I understand you are getting treatment at Philemon Medical Associates. Is that correct?"_

"Yes. First for the surgery and cast," she holds up her arm that shows the deep red scars from the severe break and subsequent surgery. "_Now I am in physical therapy to regain full use. But Raul knows he made a terrible mistake! And he knows it could have been much worse! He would not just…just run off because of this!"_

Emily nods. "_We know. We don't believe he has. Tell me, was there anyone at the clinic who showed you more attention than they needed to? Perhaps a woman who was very interested in how the injury occurred?"_

Esperanza thinks a moment. _"There was one woman. She…several times she told me I should make the police press charges against my husband. He got off with just a ticket for failure to control vehicle and had to pay damages for the parked car he hit. She told me he should go to jail for hurting me. I tried to tell her it was just an accident but she said there are no accidents, only bad men who hurt women."_

Emily stiffens. This was most likely their puppet. _"Do you know if she worked at the clinic or was she another patient?"_

"_She worked there. She takes my x-rays."_

Emily's eyes widen. An x-ray tech could look into any file she wants without anyone thinking twice about it. If they noticed her in the wrong file she could simply claim it was an accident. Hotch reads Emily like a book and knows she has heard who the puppet is. Emily leans forward on her knees.

_"One more question: did the woman ever see Raul?"_

Esperanza nods. _"Si. Each time he took me to see the doctors. She always just glared at him. It made him uncomfortable."_

"_I'm sure it did. Detective Flick will get some more information from you. Thank you so much for your time."_

_"You will find Raul, right?"_

Emily swallows, worried it is already too late for the missing man. _"We will do our best," _she promises.

She stands and Hotch follows suit. As they leave they hear Detective Flick getting more information from the woman. When they get outside Emily looks at Hotch.

"We need to get a warrant and get into the files at Philemon now. The x-ray tech is a woman and she kept pressing Esperanza to press charges against her husband for hurting her."

"Shit. As soon as Flick gets out here we'll have him call for the warrant." He blows at a breath. "What are the chances we'll get what we need in time to save Raul?"

Emily shoves her hands in her pockets. "Slim to none. But if we can find her we can follow her and save Derek."

Hotch nods, pacing while they wait for Flick to come out of the Hernandez house.

* * *

Rossi and JJ meet the tow trucks at the impound lot. All 3 vehicles had been found at the mall.

"How the hell didn't they find them sooner?" JJ gripes.

"I don't know. But seeing as they were left in areas with no security cameras our only hope is the unsub's left prints."

"And we've been oh so lucky so far with this bastard," JJ says sarcastically.

Rossi only nods, having agreed with the sentiment and the tone behind it. They pull on gloves and start to poke around the first car once all the fingerprints in it have been lifted. There is nothing of interest to be found. The second car is much the same.

But in the third car, Rossi picks up a receipt. He frowns.

"JJ, what time was Bud Stevens taken?"

"Sometime after he left work at 5:30 but before he could call his wife to say he was on his way home. Why?"

"This is a receipt for metal pipes and pipe caps is from 6:13 the night he disappeared."

"Metal pipes? Pipe caps? Shit, is he going to be making pipe bombs next?"

Rossi shrugs. "Not sure. We need to get to this hardware store and find out."

"Maybe they have security tapes of the purchase," JJ wishes.

"We're closing in on him, JJ. We're closing in," Rossi states confidently.

JJ nods, hoping he is correct.

* * *

Flick, Hotch and Emily knock on the door of a Dr. Albert Philemon at 9:34 p.m. He stares at their badges.

"Can I help you, officers?"

Flick nods. "Yes, you can." He hands him the warrant. "We need access to your clinic files immediately and we need to know the name of your x-ray technician."

"Uh, we have 2."

"The woman that most people probably don't like and who probably has a chip on her shoulder," Emily clarifies.

Philemon sighs. "That would be Gloria. Gloria Steward."

Hotch and Emily already had that name but they are now doing everything by the book. Hotch pulls out his phone and steps away to call Garcia and get her to "officially" pull all the information she had already dug up on Gloria Steward.

Steward's story is rather sad. Her father had abused her mother until he went to prison after he accidentally killed a man in a bar fight. Her mother divorced him but then dated and married a string of equally abusive men. As such, Steward had been drawn to men who treated her badly until a policewoman finally stepped in after she was beaten so badly she ended up in the hospital. Steward then turned her life around but never quite got over her hatred and mistrust of men. She had a hard time holding down a job due to that distrust and based on her employee evaluations she probably wouldn't have been at Philemon much longer.

Detective Flick drives Dr. Philemon to the clinic where they meet up with 2 other detectives and a technical analyst to find the files the team needs and to officially find the hack that The Puppet Master had created to find his puppets and victims.

Hotch and Emily are on their way to meet up with Rossi and JJ to see how their hardware store lead pans out when Flick calls Hotch.

"Hotch, a patrol officer signed out to eat his dinner. Was going to sit in the parking lot at Thorpe Park. He saw a panel van parked suspiciously close to the three baseball diamonds. He went to investigate and the van gunned it out of the lot. He was going to follow when he saw a body on the ground. Sounds like Hernandez."

"Shit," Hotch mutters. "We'll head that way now."

"See you there," Flick says as he hangs up.

Hotch looks at Emily. "Find Thorpe Park. Sounds like Hernandez just got dumped."

"Madre de Dios," Emily mutters as she punches their new destination into the GPS unit.

* * *

Rossi and JJ pull into the parking lot at Thorpe Park. It is awash in red and blue lights. They flash their credentials and make their way to Hotch and Emily.

"Was it him?" Rossi asks as they walk up.

Hotch nods. JJ studies her wife, seeing the tension just boiling off of her.

"Beating and suffocation?" JJ confirms.

Hotch shrugs. "Looks like it. Coroner will have to confirm it."

"Think he made Morgan watch?" Rossi asks.

Emily spins around, pinning him with a glare. "What the fuck do you think?"

She storms back to the SUV before anyone can respond. JJ starts after her but Hotch grabs her arm.

"Give her a minute," he encourages. "Let her compartmentalize this a bit before you push her about it."

JJ shrugs Hotch's hand off her arm. "No."

She follows her wife, climbing into the SUV and slamming the door.

"Don't you fucking let your emotions start to control you, Emily Prentiss." She holds up her hand to stop Emily's rant. "You're not the only one worried about Morgan. Stop feeling so fucking sorry for yourself. So what if the unsub wanted you first? Big. Fucking. Deal. Get your head out of your ass and concentrate on the case NOT on Morgan."

Before Emily can respond JJ is out of the SUV. Emily wants to rage at her wife…but JJ is right. Problem is Emily isn't ready to admit what that means. She is not ready to let go of the negative emotions and just work the case. But she does know if she doesn't at least pretend to get in control Hotch will not let her be part of the take down. She takes a few deep breaths, staring at herself in the mirror.

"Shut it away, Prentiss. Your mother taught you that from the time you were born. Just shut it away and put on a show for your boss. You can do this. Fool him into thinking you're okay." She lets a breath out slowly. "Fool your wife, too. Let her think she got through to you. You can deal with that fall out later."

A few minutes later she walks up the other three agents. "Sorry. Had to…to clear my head." She looks into her wife's eyes. "You were right. I'm sorry." She looks at Rossi. "Sorry for my outburst." She looks at Hotch. "I'm okay. Just had to breathe a bit."

JJ stares into her wife's eyes. It had been a long time since Emily had lied to her face. They were heading towards a blow-up like never before but not until after this is case is solved and The Puppet Master is stopped.

"So what did you find at the hardware store?" Emily asks.

"We saw the footage. Woman buying the supplies matches the DMV photo of Gloria Steward," Rossi tells her.

Emily nods. "So the x-ray tech is the puppet."

"Looks like," Rossi agrees.

"Did police get a license plate off the van?" JJ asks.

"Got a clear shot of where the plate should have been," Hotch tells her.

"Great."

"Let's get back to the precinct to find out what Garcia has dug up on places Steward may be holding the captives until they die," Hotch says.

"You know, Garcia needs to search us," Emily says suddenly.

"What?" Rossi asks in confusion.

"The Puppet Master is obsessed with our team. He used Hotch's name as his cover at the cleaning service. He made a grab at JJ in Detroit." JJ rolls her eyes at the slip. "He tried to grab me and took Morgan instead. Maybe he has a place here in Flagstaff under one of our names."

"Could be a long shot or could be dead on right," Hotch states. As they move back towards the SUV's he is already calling Garcia.

"And, Hotch, tell her whenever she leaves Quantico to go to our place. She doesn't need to drive all the way back to D.C. after this day from hell she's putting in," Emily insists.

Despite her anger at her wife, JJ can't help but be touched that Emily is looking out for their friend. Maybe her wife is still in there somewhere after all.

* * *

Reid is staring at his map of Flagstaff. He has now plotted important points in the life of Raul Hernandez. With three victims now to help him triangulate he has noticed a part of town none of the men go near. It could be coincidence or it could be the unsub is careful not to take anyone who may draw attention to his comfort zone.

"Why aren't you doing anything near the university?"

As much as he hates to do it, he calls Garcia and Kevin. The two analysts have to be near exhaustion but he needs an answer.

"Garcia, the unsub has avoided any connection to Northern Arizona University. Do you know why?"

"No, why?" she asks.

Reid sighs, feeling worse now that he hears just how tired she is. "I was wondering if that might be his comfort zone."

Garcia sighs and starts to type. She jumps as her new search for Reid connects up with the search she is running for Hotch.

"Holy shared names, Batman."

"What?"

"There's an old building at the university. It was originally a science lab, then it was storage, now it's not used at all because it's pretty far off the main campus. It's called the David Reed, that would be R-E-E-D, Sciences building."

"Shit. And it's basically abandoned?"

"According to the manifest that lists university holdings and assets," she confirms.

"Garcia, I love you."

"Just find Derek."

"Working on it," Reid promises. He hangs up with her and quickly calls Hotch. "Hotch, I think I know where the unsub is keeping Morgan."


	15. Chapter 15

Hotch brings down his binoculars. "The officer is sure that's the van?"

Flick nods. "Yes. And it has no plates. Also, in the dash cam you can see that big scratch on the back door. It's Steward for sure."

"Can we get eyes in there?" Emily asks.

"SWAT is working on sneaking two people up to the building. Problem is there is very little cover for them to use. We can only watch and wait."

Emily paces back and forth. JJ wants to say something to calm her wife but doesn't know what that would be. It is nearly 3 a.m. before the SWAT officers contact the command center.

"Fiber optic camera deployed," comes over the radio.

The agents and detective flock to the two monitors that had been set up.

"Derek," Emily whispers when she sees her partner and best friend tied to a chair in the center of the building. He is not moving.

The camera shifts until it lands on a room to the left of the doors. Light leaks out under the door. Could this be the unsub and his puppet? Finally?

Flick and the SWAT commander look at Hotch. The FBI unit chief studies the scene as the camera sweeps around again. In his mind he is making his plan of entry. Finally he nods.

"Prentiss, you, JJ and I will enter at the front. Take two men to cover you and get to Morgan. I'll lead JJ and the other men towards the office. Rossi, Reid, come in that side door by the office with another squad. Our number 1 priority is arresting or otherwise stopping the unsubs. There should be two in there. Any questions?"

No one has any. As Emily goes to don her vest she feels a hand grab her arm. She turns to look into fiery blue eyes.

"We have a lot of shit to work through after this." Emily nods at the statement. "But know I love you and we _will _work through it."

Emily doesn't care about the men all around them. She grabs her wife and pulls her into a deep, passionate kiss. "I love you, Jennifer. I'll make this right. I promise."

JJ nods and grabs her own vest as they prepare to make entry into the building.

* * *

Both doors locks have been picked. Hotch has started his countdown to entry when the door to the warehouse office opens.

"Hold entry. Repeat, hold entry," the commander says over the radio. "We have a woman, looks like Steward, approaching Agent Morgan."

Emily tenses up. It takes every bit of her self control not to bust in there and stop her from going near him.

"She is approaching a table in the back right of the warehouse. Shit, she has a board of some sort in her hands and is walking back to the captive. Oh, shit she's going to hit him."

Before the words come over the speaker the sound of Morgan's scream shatters the night. Hotch looks at Emily.

"Alive if possible."

She nods.

"GO! NOW! BOTH TEAMS GO!" Hotch orders.

Gloria has the board in the air, preparing to bring it back down across Morgan's legs. Emily trains her gun at the woman.

"GLORIA STEWARD! THIS IS THE FBI! DROP THE BOARD AND MOVE AWAY FROM YOUR PRISONER!"

The woman stares in shock as Emily and 2 policemen stomp towards her, their guns trained at her.

"NO! We have to do the goddess' word! We have to stop him from hurting women!"

"The only one hurting anyone here is you!" Emily points out. "DROP the board! NOW!"

The woman had continued to back away. Emily puts herself between the killer and her best friend. She hears Morgan's sobs and can't help but whisper.

"It's okay, Derek. It's over now, buddy. I swear." She raises her voice. "Drop it, Gloria. You have no where to go." Emily whispers to the officers beside her. "Do not shoot. Let me take the shot if needed." The officers reluctantly nod. "Gloria, put your weapon down."

The woman studies the scene a second then races at Emily, the board over her head. "NO! GODESS' WILL BE DONE!"

Emily fires…hitting Gloria in the stomach. The woman drops to the ground, howling in pain. But it won't be a fatal shot. Emily had made sure of that. From behind her she hears laughter. She turns and comes face to face…with The Puppet Master.

"Well done, Agent Prentiss. Too bad we couldn't have played together. Derek was fun but you, Emily, would have been a dream come true."

The man is cuffed and being held by Rossi and Hotch. Emily is shaking with rage. Her eyes narrow. Her hand tenses on her gun as she slowly lifts it, aiming at the grinning man. JJ steps between her wife and The Puppet Master.

"Don't do it, Emily. Don't let him take you from your kids. Don't let him take you from me."

"I'll escape, Emily. I'll escape and—UNGH!" He drops to his knees when Rossi punches him in the stomach.

The agents drag Mitchell Reese from the building. Emily holsters her gun and steps back to Morgan. She kneels in front of him. He is conscious. Barely.

"Derek…it's going to be okay. It's over. We got the bastard. It's over."

JJ and an officer cut the ropes holding Derek as Emily removes the gag from his mouth. They ease him to the ground, Emily cradling his head in her lap, whispering words of comfort to him as he passes out once more.

* * *

Ten minutes later EMT's are loading Morgan into an ambulance. An IV has been started as has morphine. When his pants had been cut off Emily had winced at the deep bruises and horrible welts that had covered his legs. One of his knees was horribly swollen and she is praying his kneecap is not broken.

But no matter what he is alive. He will recover and that is what gives her hope. Emily looks at Hotch.

"I'm riding with him."

Hotch nods. Rossi and he have searched The Puppet Master and two officers are preparing to put him in the back of a cruiser. The killer stops and looks at the FBI agents.

"You know, I still win. You have no idea how many I have truly killed."

Hotch sneers at him. "We found Minneapolis. We'll find the others."

Reese's eyes momentarily flicker with doubt. How had they found Minneapolis? But his smug grin is quickly back. "Can you be sure? I'll strike a deal with someone. Mark my words. They will want to know just how good I am."

"If you're so good, why are you in cuffs?" Rossi taunts him.

Reese grins. "Want to bet I can kill even in cuffs?"

The two officers holding him grip him tighter. Reese turns as the ambulance carrying Morgan and Emily pulls away, sirens screaming. He smiles and manipulates his hands, playing with his watch.

"Hey! His watch is beeping!" one of the officers says.

JJ's eyes get wide. "Oh God…the pipe bombs. Where the hell were the pipe bombs?"

As if in answer there is a huge explosion. The right side of the ambulance is lifted off the ground as it crashes to the ground on its side another explosion rocks it, bouncing it up and down but leaving it lying on the left side.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! EMMMMMIIIILLLLLYYYYY!"

Reese just laughs as JJ, Hotch, Reid and Rossi race towards the ambulance holding Emily and Morgan.

It is smoking, jagged metal standing out in all directions. The front is completely destroyed, the driver surely dead.

But what about the two agents and the EMT in the back end? Who could possibly live through such an explosion and wreck?


	16. Chapter 16

A police officer arrives at the back of the ambulance first. He rips open the door and stares inside. The sounds of medical equipment alarms fill the night as the siren dies. He crosses himself.

"Oh, God," he whispers.

From the back the front cab is non-existent, replaced instead by a hanging sheet of metal that had been the floorboard. Morgan is still strapped to his gurney but it has become dislodged from its anchors on the floor and lies on top of the EMT who had been treating him.

Emily is crumpled unmoving half on Morgan's gurney at his feet and half on the side of the ambulance. Blood is splattered on all the walls but it's impossible to tell whose it is. As JJ arrives she has to fight the instinct to grab her wife and pulls her from the wreckage.

"Emily! Emily, baby, can you hear me? Morgan? Derek?"

No one is answering, no one is moving. JJ looks down at her wife and sees the pool of blood spreading out under her head. She lies facing the front of the ambulance so JJ can only see the left side of her face. It is smeared with blood.

"EMILY!"

Hotch and Rossi drag JJ away from the doors as the third ambulance crew races forward to help secure and extract the injured parties in the destroyed rig.

* * *

It takes 20 minutes, assistance from 2 more ambulance rigs and a life flight helicopter to get the injured to the hospital. JJ paces in the waiting room. She hadn't even been able to ride with Emily in the helicopter; hadn't been able to offer words of comfort and love before the brunette had been whisked away.

Her pacing stops as a hand with a cup of coffee appears in front of her. "Spence. Thanks."

Reid nods. "No problem. I'm trying to convince myself that no news is good news."

JJ manages a smile. "Let me know if that works."

He just nods. He glances at his watch. "It's 10 a.m. Hotch and Rossi should be back soon to let us know how the interrogation went."

JJ shrugs. "I don't care. He's in custody. He'll stay in custody. No judge in his right mind will give him bail. Not after they found the detonator in his watch. He can't feign innocence."

Reid nods. "True."

Before he can say anymore the surgical doors open and a tired looking doctor walks out. "Morgan?"

JJ waves. "That's us. How is he?"

"Severe dehydration. Some clotting issues due to the bruises and the fact that he was sitting so long. Concussion probably from the ambulance accident. Well, not exactly an accident but you know what I mean." JJ and Reid nod. "Even though his gurney was dislodged it actually prevented him from being seriously injured. All in all he's pretty damn lucky. I'd say he should be okay to leave in a couple of days if no complications arise."

"Oh, thank God. Any word on Agent Prentiss or the EMT?" Reid asks as JJ seems too in shock to speak.

"Nothing that I know of. Let me go check for you."

Reid nods. "Thank you, Doctor." As he leaves, Reid looks at JJ. "I'm going to call Morgan's mother. She's been waiting on word before flying down here. I think she'll want to come since he'll be here a few days."

JJ just nods, knowing he won't go far. It is twenty more minutes before the doctor returns.

"The EMT has a broken back. It's too soon to tell if the paralysis will be permanent or temporary." He takes a deep breath. "Agent Prentiss is in a coma."

JJ's knees go out and Reid catches her, half-carrying, half-dragging her to a chair. The doctor kneels down in front of her.

"I understand you're her wife?" JJ nods. "Okay. Look, I'm not going to lie. She's in bad shape. Her right arm is broken and that is her most minor injury. There are three significant points of impact on her skull. Additionally, it looks like the gurney came down at least once on her abdomen leading to some internal injures. If she wakes up- -"

"IF?!" JJ screams. Reid wraps his arms around her.

The doctor takes a deep breath. "If she wakes up she will have a long road to recovery. Unfortunately, there _is_a chance she won't wake up."

"The odds?" Reid asks.

"At best, 50-50. At worst 30-70. As soon as she gets out of surgery we'll be able to reassess her status. Once she's stable we'll be flying her to Phoenix where they have better facilities to care for her."

JJ is no longer able to speak. Reid just nods his thanks to the doctor. He holds JJ close, rocking her as they wait for more word on their friends. When Hotch and Rossi arrive later Reid tells them everything. Hotch kneels down in front of JJ.

"JJ, have you called Elizabeth and Gerald?"

Reid answers for her. "No. She wanted to wait until Emily is out of surgery."

Hotch nods. "I'm going to go ahead and call them. They need to know. And they may know a specialist that can be more help."

JJ just nods, still not speaking to anyone. As Hotch walks away he nods to Rossi.

"While I call them you call Garcia. I want her to meet us in Phoenix. JJ needs her."

Rossi nods. "Got it. Should we tell them about Morgan's phone?"

The two agents had found the package waiting for them in the conference room. They had watched the video, anger and sadness washing over them as they watched Morgan get beaten by the mentally disturbed woman. Even worse than her face were the giggles coming from Mitchell Reese as he taped the abuse.

Hotch shakes his head. "No. We can tell them about it when we debrief…whenever the hell that is."

* * *

At 4 p.m. that afternoon JJ is pacing outside the room that Emily is being settled into at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix. She watches through the window as the various machines helping her wife are situated, attached, checked. As she watches a reflection appears in the window beside her. She turns.

"Pen," she says, bursting into another round of tears.

Garcia races forward and pulls her close. "She'll be okay, JJ. She will fight with everything she has to get back to you and Rocky and Henry. She'll be okay."

"I'm so scared, Pen. So fucking scared."

"I know, Jayje. I'm here for you. We all are." Well, Morgan's not, the analyst says to herself. But he would be okay, since he was strapped to the gurney. "Why don't we sit down and- -"

"No. As soon as they are done I can go sit with her. I haven't been able to talk to her since before we entered the warehouse. And we were…we'd had…there was anger. I mean, we said we loved each other and we shared a kiss but the anger was still there. Oh, God, Pen, what if she doesn't remember I love her? What if she just remembers the anger?"

"She won't. She knows you love her. She'll remember the love. You'll see, JJ. You'll see."

Just then the myriad of nurses and doctors walk out of Emily's room. One doctor stops to speak with JJ.

"Mrs. Prentiss?" JJ nods. "Your wife is settled now. You can sit with her for 15 minutes each hour. Talk to her, touch her, let her know you're there. She can hear you."

"Why…why just 15 minutes?" JJ asks.

"With her head injury we can't risk over-stimulation. After the first 24 hours we can reevaluate her status for visitors."

"Okay. Right. Okay. Will she…is she going to wake up soon?" JJ asks hopefully.

He sighs. "We'll know more in 24 hours. That's…that's the best I can tell you."

Garcia grips her friend tighter as she feels JJ weaken. As the doctor walks away, Garcia spins JJ and looks into her eyes.

"Go in there and tell your Princess Charming you're here and ready to ravage her awake. That should get her to respond."

JJ forces a smile to her face. "Thanks, Pen."

JJ takes a steadying breath and walks into her wife's room. She studies the myriad of machines around her, remembering the last time she had seen her wife this way. JJ lifts Emily's hand and gives it a kiss.

"Hi, baby. You know, I thought when you gave birth to Rocky it would be the only time I saw you around all this equipment. But you just had to prove me wrong, right?" she says with forced cheerfulness.

Emily is so pale. Her right arm is in a cast and propped up on a pillow. JJ fingers the wedding ring hanging on her necklace.

"I guess I should tell you I have your wedding ring. It's on Amy's necklace. I'll be keeping it for you until…until…" finally her tears burst out. "Oh, God, Emily, please wake up, baby. Please. I can't raise the kids without you. We all need you. Please, please wake up."

From the window, Garcia cries as she watches JJ breakdown. She says a prayer that these will be the last tears shed by her best friend.


End file.
